By establishing a basic office setup and following a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, you can significantly improve your chances of a successful recovery during a disaster.
How do you know if you need a Disaster Recovery Plan?
Think of it as insurance. Everyone needs it, and not enough people have it.
You should expect your business to suffer a cyberattack, phishing, water damage, and other events that disrupt your business operations in today’s business environment. The scale of the event depends on your preventative measures and action steps.
A basic office setup for disaster recovery should include the following essential components:
1. Hardware and Infrastructure:
- Servers: Redundant servers to ensure continuous operations.
- Storage: Redundant storage devices to protect data.
- Network equipment: Routers, switches, and firewalls with redundancy.
- UPS: Uninterruptible power supplies to provide backup power.
- Climate control: Systems to maintain optimal temperature and humidity.
- Layout: Design the data center layout to minimize downtime, and also reduce accidental damage. In addition, equipment is positioned off the ground, and secured in a rack or wall.
2. Data Backup and Recovery:
- Regular backups: Implement a consistent backup schedule.
- Off-site storage: Store backups in a secure location away from the primary site.
- Recovery procedures: Develop detailed procedures for restoring data and systems.
Additional Reading >> The Importance of Backing Up Your Data
3. Communication Systems:
- Redundant lines: Multiple phone lines or VoIP systems for flexibility on access and outages.
- Emergency contact list: A list of key personnel and their contact information.
Additional Reading >> Benefits of a Business-Grade Phone System
4. Security:
- Access controls: Implement access controls to restrict unauthorized access.
- Surveillance: Consider installing surveillance systems.
5. Disaster Recovery Plan:
- Documentation: Create a detailed disaster recovery plan outlining procedures and responsibilities.
- Testing: Regularly test the plan to ensure its effectiveness.
- Updates: Keep the plan up-to-date as your business and technology needs change.
Additional Resource >> Vendor Documentation Sheet
What it comes down to is Prevention. That is your best disaster recovery strategy. Technology can only protect you to an extent. Some disasters are uncontrollable, such as weather, and others are avoidable. Even so, if you have the proper storage, backup, and other recovery items in place, you drastically increase the likelihood that your business will not skip a beat when your office floods, loses power, or your data is hacked.
At some point, however, human error will compromise your business. Over 70% of attacks are perpetrated with the help of an employee within the organization. In most instances, this was an unintentional error, but not always. The employee may have clicked a dangerous link without knowing it or shared their password with the wrong person.
Having a disaster recovery plan is insurance for your business continuity. Start planning your recovery today so that your business is covered tomorrow.