Hurricane Season is Near: Do you have a Disaster Recovery Plan in Place?

One of the most talked about yet least implemented activities concerning IT infrastructure is the design and

execution of a disaster recovery plan. Whether man-made or natural, disasters of all shapes and sizes signify costly disruptions to business practices.

As of June first, Hurricane Season in the Atlantic begins. Still reeling from last year’s Hurricane Sandy, which caused billions of dollars in damages, many small businesses have never reopened. The most common business disaster is data loss and can be the most crippling loss a company can face. Fortunately, if you’re proactive about having a backup solution in place, data loss is easy to recover. 

A few helpful tips to keep your business running smoothly: 

1.) Think critically about your data. If you were to walk into your office tomorrow and all your business data were gone, what would you miss the most? Know what you have and what's important. 

2.) Consider backup options. Tape, external media, outsourcing--whatever you choose, your backup must be offsite, duplicated, secure and available for recovery at all times. Think beyond onsite back-up. 

3.) Outsourcing could be your best bet. As are most small businesses, if you are short on IT staff, outsourcing to a reliable partner is certainly your best option. A disaster recovery service can provide you a shorter window to recovery when disaster strikes and give you the peace of mind in knowing you will always be protected. Customers that use Convergent Technologies Group's Managed Backup Service receive security, monitoring and support 24/7 by taking advantage of our monthly service packages.

4.) Backup is nothing without recovery. Do test runs and be familiar with your recovery process. If you have a provider, they should be happy to walk you through a test-recovery procedure. 

5.) Review. Review. Review. Did I mention review? Make sure your data is being backed up regularly and reflects ALL changes or additions to your business processes and infrastructure. This should be done on a quarterly basis if not more often. 

It is not if, but when a disaster rears its ugly head. Be it fire, theft, system failure, man-made or natural, they all have the same effect--costly disruptions to your business processes. Don't risk it - get protected and we can help.

If you are ready to take the next step Contact Convergent Technologies Group and learn more about our complete data recovery and backup service.