Around half of all IT disasters are caused by failures in software or networks, but there is a whole swathe of other factors that potentially represent a risk to your business, from human error to malicious hack attempts and even unusually extreme weather conditions that could damage a server room.
When your company is reliant upon tech, as so many are nowadays, then if a disaster does happen, it can result in a fall in customer confidence, damage your team’s productivity and worst-case scenario, it could put your entire business at risk.
Creating a disaster recovery plan is essential to minimise damage and ensure that your business can continue to function.
Inventory
A good inventory shows exactly what your IT assets are, and where they are, at any given point in time. If you know what hardware and software you have on your network, what applications your team are using and where different types of data you’re storing, then you can prioritise what to restore first, and also be sure that nothing is missed during the recovery effort.
Craft a recovery plan
By implementing actionable steps, with clearly-defined objectives, roles and responsibilities, your staff have a better chance of achieving a successful recovery. This plan ought to be practised several times yearly.
Understand your network
Study your network’s performance at different points in the day, month or year. Are there any periods where it is particularly vulnerable such as during times of high traffic, or does it have any weak spots such as staff members routinely putting unauthorized devices on to it? As a business grows, so does the strain on an IT network that is not scalable.
IT Security
Hacks are not the only threat to a business and its IT network, but they are an ever-present and growing problem that many companies struggle to manage. Smart security practises, such as insisting staff use secure passwords that are regularly changed, firewalls and up-to-date virus protection software, will go some way to dealing with this threat, but the price of an increasingly IT-centric business world is eternal vigilance.
Regular Back-Ups
Any and all business-critical data needs to be backed up on a regular basis, preferably multiple times a day. Many businesses now choose to use external data centres or Cloud storage solutions for the peace of mind that should a disaster strike, their vital data will be restored by professional recovery services quickly.
