Having a business mindset is not enough to keep your business afloat. With all the cyberthreats that are lurking just around the corner, you ought to think about cybersecurity, as well. And this is best done in advance; it can be hard to think clearly and act quickly under the intense pressure of an unexpected cyberattack.
25% of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) don’t resume operations after a major disaster, according to this survey. If you don’t want to be another statistic, protect your organization by employing an effective backup solution. Here’s how.
#1 Identify your critical assets
Your business is run by several applications, operating systems (OS), software, and data. Ideally, everything should be recovered after a disaster, but only a handful should be prioritized during data backup and disaster recovery. It’s time-consuming, costly, and impractical to try to recover all assets after a disaster, considering that your goal should be to resume operations as soon as possible.
To prevent this problem, perform a thorough inventory of all your technology assets ahead of time and determine which ones are worth saving in the event of a catastrophe. For instance, if you’re running an eCommerce company, servers that run your payment channels should be the first on your priority list.
#2 Maintain full copies of critical data outside your production region
Closely located data centers won’t be of much help if your area suffers from a natural disaster, and business services and data availability are hindered across nearby locations. The general rule of thumb is to maintain a full copy of critical data and services and to keep it in an area that’s not at risk of disasters.
#3 Make the most out of cloud technology
The cloud isn’t only beneficial in improving work efficiency and data management; it’s also a practical solution for backup and disaster recovery. Saving copies of your files and software in the cloud allows for faster recovery times, safer storage of data, and easier access to them — as long as there’s an internet connection.
What’s more, these benefits can be maximized by partnering with a managed IT services provider (MSP) as they will help in keeping your data safe and recovering your assets in the event of a disaster.
#4 Ensure that all plan components are fully accessible
Months of preparation will be put to waste if your plan, which contains all the instructions for a speedy recovery, isn’t fully accessible in a time of crisis. It’s best if you document your disaster recovery plan (DRP) in the cloud to ensure that it’s ready for you once the need arises.
#5 Keep your DRP up to date
Consider this: your organization has just deployed a new application, which replaces at least three tools you have been using for the past six months. However, you did not update your DRP to include the said change. So when disaster strikes, your DRP only contains the resources needed to retrieve the software you were using six months ago, not the current application.
Several things may come up between the inception of your DRP and the moment of disaster. Therefore, it should be your priority to keep your DRP updated and aligned with the production environment. This and change management are crucial practices that you must follow if you want an efficient DR protocol.
#6 Test your plan
Practice makes perfect, and the same is true when it comes to DR planning. To ensure that everything will run perfectly during disaster recovery, your employees need to know which aspects of the plan need improvement and what actions they need to do during a catastrophe. This will allow for a faster recovery time.
Moreover, testing should be comprehensive enough to include every type of risk that could affect your business, including power outages, cyberattacks, or natural disasters that can wipe out your entire facility. This proactive thinking will improve your plan over time and will ensure business continuity even after a calamity.
Cyber Shift Technologies has worked with countless businesses to develop a comprehensive backup solution that caters to each organization’s needs. We also test the plan every quarter to ensure that no matter what happens, your data will be safe. If you want to ensure business continuity, plan your disaster recovery with us.
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