Because business owners rely so much on digital assets and data to run their businesses, imagine how crippling it could be if that data was lost or stolen. Unfortunately, this is something that is becoming more and more of a reality for companies today. After all, cyber criminals are getting more sophisticated all of the time. Not only this but we are handling increasingly high amounts of data, making protection even more complex. Not only do you need to make sure you have effective forms of cyber security in place in order to lower the risk of data loss but you also need to think about how you would react if data loss was to happen to you.
There are a number of different consequences that can happen when there is data loss at any business. This includes the following…
- Productivity being disrupted
- Permanent business failure
- Loss of customer loyalty
- Exposure of confidential information
- Reputational damage
- Fines
Of course, in a perfect world, IT best practices would keep data always protected and available, however, technology fails, cyber criminals gain access to networks, and businesses need a backup and disaster recovery plan for when their back is up against a wall.
Backup and Disaster Plan
If you experience data loss, you need to be able to act quickly and effectively so that you can minimise the impact. This is where a backup and disaster recovery plan comes into place. This ensures that you know the exact steps you need to take should the worst happen. This will make sure your business is able to react efficiently and that you do not end up in a situation whereby you are staring down the barrel of business closure because you have not been prepared.
What are some of the main causes of data loss?
Before we can take a look at the benefits of having a disaster recovery plan in place, it is first important to understand how data loss can happen so that you are going to be in a position to best protect your business.
A natural disaster could be one of the reasons why you end up suffering data loss at your business. This is the most uncontrollable cause of all and highlights why you need to have a backup and disaster recovery plan in place.
You may also end up experiencing data loss because of computer malware and viruses. We know that viruses can slow down computers, making it much easier for hackers and cyber criminals to gain access to your confidential data. Other causes include software corruption as well as system or hardware malfunctions.
However, perhaps the most common reason of them all is human error. There are two forms of human mistakes that can result in data being lost. The first is when someone causes physical damage by accident, for example, they fail to store a device properly or they drop a device. The second example is when someone formats or deletes something in a manner they do not mean to.
Backup and Disaster Recovery:
What To Consider
If you look at the studies that have been conducted about data loss, you will see that insider attacks are very common when it comes to data breaches today. This is often because employees have not been taught about the best practises to minimise the chances of a data breach and so they end up acting in a way that causes damage without intending to do so.
When you take all of this into consideration, it is not hard to see how a backup and disaster recovery plan from an IT company will provide peace of mind and make sure businesses have an out when disaster strikes.
There are many different reasons why this makes sense. This includes cost-efficiency. There are a number of different components of an incident response plan. This includes corrective methods for restoring data and allowing businesses to resume progress, as well as detective methods that are aimed at the identification of unwanted events in a quick manner. There are also preventative measures for lowering the risks of a man-made disaster occurring. All of these can lower the chances of a costly disaster, therefore, boosting cost-efficiency.
In addition to this, other important reasons you need a backup and incident recovery plan is to increase employee productivity, improve customer retention, and understand scalability.