How a disaster recovery plan can save your business?
Disaster recovery and business continuity are essential for any business and have been around in various forms since the 1970s. The idea behind it was that there would be protective contingency plans to bring businesses back online in the event of a disaster or crisis, so that they are able to keep running in some respect. Disaster recovery plans in their initial stages referred to protecting data and ensuring that systems were not damaged; this then evolved into what we now refer to as a business continuity plan which focuses on the protection of all parts of the business, from staff to supplies to the integral processes of the business.
A business continuity plan ensures that there are practices in place for a business to keep running and generating money even when faced with a major crisis. Before the advances in digital technology, this was mainly used when businesses were faced with a natural disaster but has since come to be used more for IT failures and cyberattacks which tend to be more likely threats.
Why business continuity is essential for your business
For the majority of businesses, having a period of time where nothing is operating is simply not an option. However, there are risks to the daily operations of any business, which means that you need to have a plan for how things will progress when you are experiencing downtime.
This plan should aim to keep the business running on some level during any kind of crisis, and therefore needs to have measures in place to make sure of that. Even if operations are running at a minimum, the business will not need to cease operations entirely, which can ensure no major loss of money or reputation.
4 Reasons Why a Backup Strategy is Important for Your Business Continuity Planning
The importance of a backup strategy cannot be overstated. You never know when a disaster will strike and you need to have a backup plan in place. The following are some reasons why it’s important to have a backup strategy in place:
1. Protects your data from loss
2. Protects you from downtime
3. Cost-efficient
4. Helps to mitigate risks
Business continuity: things to consider
What your business continuity plan includes will depend on the specific needs of your business. To come up with a plan helps to take a look at potential weaknesses within the company as well as assessing the key components needed to run the bare bones of the business.
Nowadays, modern-day business continuity plans will include the synchronisation of business processes with applications, IT and consultancy. There are some simple ways to ensure that your business will not need to halt operations such as updated software and cloud-based approaches that can help in the case of disaster. Here are some of the key features of a business continuity plan:
- Organisation: considering the responsibility of employees in times of disaster
- Processes: what are the essential processes that the business cannot run without?
- Technology: systems, network and technology that is needed for operations to continue
- Data: what software is needed for the operation of the business?
It is essential that these steps are taken to ensure that your business is completely protected in times of crisis. If you are in need of a business continuity plan, we are here to help you! Get in touch with our team today to hear about our expert business continuity plans and how to introduce them to your business.
