Disasters can strike at any time, whether it’s a natural disaster, a cyber attack, or a system failure. In such cases, having a Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (DR/BC) plan is crucial to ensure that your business can quickly recover and resume operations. Unfortunately, many businesses neglect to implement a comprehensive DR/BC plan, leaving their IT systems vulnerable. Here are five ways your IT is not prepared for a disaster and how four of them could sink your business.
1. No Offsite Data Backup
According to a 2021 survey, 37% of small to medium sized businesses reported being unable to recover all of their data after a cyber attack. Without an offsite data backup, your business could lose all its data in the event of a disaster. An onsite backup is not enough as it could be destroyed along with your primary data. Without a comprehensive DR/BC plan, the loss of data can have devastating consequences on your business, including financial loss, reputation damage, and even legal liability.
2. No Disaster Recovery Plan
Having a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is essential to ensure that your business can quickly recover from a disaster. A DRP outlines the steps your business needs to take to recover its IT systems and resume operations. Without a DRP, your business could struggle to recover from a disaster, leading to prolonged downtime, lost revenue, and even closure.
3. No Business Continuity Plan
A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is essential to ensure that your business can continue to operate even in the event of a disaster. A BCP outlines the steps your business needs to take to ensure that critical business functions can continue even in the face of a disaster. According to Infrascale, the average cost of an IT outage for a small business is $14,000 per hour. The average across all business sizes is $82,200 per hour according to International Data Corporation. Without a BCP, your business could struggle to recover, leading to long-term business interruption, lost revenue, and even closure.
4. Lack of IT Infrastructure Redundancy
Without IT infrastructure redundancy, a single point of failure can cause a catastrophic failure of your entire IT system. This can lead to data loss, network downtime, and a complete halt to your business operations. Investing in IT infrastructure redundancy can be expensive, but it’s critical to ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster.
5. Insufficient Cybersecurity Measures
According the a 2020 report by Hiscox, 28% of small businesses reported experiencing a data breach and according to the National Cyber Security Alliance, 60% of small businesses that suffer from a cyber attack go out of business within 6 months. It goes without saying that a cyber attack is a disaster that can have severe consequences for your business. Without sufficient cybersecurity measures in place, your business is vulnerable to malware, ransomware, phishing attacks, and other cyber threats. A cyber attack can compromise your IT systems, steal sensitive data, and cause prolonged downtime.
Final Thoughts
Disasters can have severe consequences for your business, and being unprepared can sink your business. By implementing a comprehensive BC/DR plan, your business can ensure that it can quickly recover and resume operations after a disaster. Remember to prioritize offsite data backup, disaster recovery planning, IT infrastructure redundancy, business continuity planning, and cybersecurity measures to protect your business from the devastating effects of a disaster.
