Data security has become the major concern for business in this era of computing technology and digital devices. Businesses can’t afford to lose their data, as it is costly and extremely risky. Nowadays, organizational data is saved in digital form. From business email and correspondence to employee and customer data along with company information and all kind of business data, everything is saved on computers and data servers. Although antivirus, firewall settings and unique id password requirements to access this data is implemented to provide foolproof security, they fail to protect data loss in certain unavoidable situations like human errors, cyber-attacks and natural disasters.
Preventing data from unforeseen threats is difficult as compared to known hazards. To protect organization data from unexpected vulnerabilities, strategic planning is essential. A disaster recovery plan has become mandatory for several reasons. Below I am sharing few of the most important reasons businesses must review, if they doubt why they should invest to possess a DRP for their business.
Machines can fail anytime
Although modern hardware, internet connection and IT are highly resistant to failure, you can’t assume that they are immune to failures. Unexpected hardware failures distract routine operations, whose fixing is costly and time-consuming. However, a proper recovery plan minimizes these concerns.
Regular data backup arrangements avoid service interruption and data loss in case of hardware failure. Instead of spending money to establish data center, companies easily outsource IT infrastructure and data center facilities either form public or managed service provider at a reasonable cost. Using third-party hard drives for data storage not only protect businesses from service interruptions but also enable them to save some good money.
Human errors are always possible
No matter how qualified staff a company have hired, humans are inclined to make mistakes. Whether it’s crashing a word file or mistaken edits or deletes in an online data, the absence of data backup results in permanent data loss. However, possessing a disaster retrieval plan will help to restore the deleted or mistakenly edited files without any errors. Besides this, including anti-virus, anti-spyware software and firewall setting protects from data breaches in case a user accidentally disabled the protection or left the port open. The best way to avoid maximum human errors is to make enhancements in business processes and quality assurance activities. Ensure to double check the things before proceeding to leave to ensure security.
Customers don’t expect less than perfect
Growing competition has made it mandatory for every business to be transparent and accountable. Customers expect quality services at lower prices. Unexpected service failures offer clients an opportunity to quit the existing vendor and move towards another vendor. A reasonable backup system ensures continuous operations even under system failures. Today’s competitive environment demands entrepreneurs not to give a reason to quit due to service outage and quality.
Threats are real & can’t be ignored
No matter how many efforts a company has made to secure its setup, unbreakable protection from unforeseen failures is impossible. What they can do is to create a strong backup of their data to regain access to their data in no time in case of fatal disasters. Cyber threats like Ransomeware, natural disasters like fire, flood and explosion can completely destroy the IT infrastructure. However, if a company has already taken preventive measures for data security they can restart their systems quickly as compared to those who have no plan of action for data recovery.
Customer retention is easier as compared to re-acquiring customer
Spending money on customer retention is less expensive as compared to re-acquiring old customers. Don’t ruin the trust of your customers after leaving them helpless and unattended during cyber-attacks and IT failures. Prolonged downtime makes customer hopeless and compels them to quit current vendor. Bringing back such customers is extremely expensive. In contrast to that, a proper rescue plan facilitates companies to continue operations without any interruptions.
Endnote: These are few reasons showing the importance of incorporating disaster recovery in the business system to ensure data security at any cost.