Every organization, from small, independent businesses to the largest enterprises, increasingly depends on digital technologies to provide services, support customers, and generate revenue. In such a fast-paced, interconnected business climate, it’s imperative that organizations have IT disaster recovery plans ready. These strategies and responses are focused on business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) so that companies can remain operational in the event of an outage, natural disaster, or cyberattack.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll look closer at the importance of BCDR and the critical role IT plays in keeping your business running during an unexpected outage or other unforeseen circumstance. We’ll also be looking at how to build a BCDR plan properly and the impact that cloud-based disaster recovery can play in keeping your business running and your data safe and secure during a crisis event.
An organization’s ability to remain operational after an outage relies heavily on interrelated business continuity and disaster recovery procedures. The goal of a BCDR plan—which encourages collaboration between IT and operations teams—is to limit risk and digital vulnerability while getting an organization back to running as normally as possible after an unexpected interruption.
These practices not only reduce the risk of data loss and decrease the chance of an emergency situation, but by embracing a robust BCDR plan, you can bolster your organization’s long-term reputation as well.
Business Continuity – BC refers to the processes and procedures an organization must implement to ensure that essential functions and operations stay running in the event of disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, or technological interruptions caused by cyberattacks, data breaches, or system crashes. This involves comprehensive ,proactive planning that is geared toward long-term challenges to an organization’s success.
Disaster Recovery – DR is more reactive than BC and consists of the specific steps an organization needs to take to restore its IT systems after a disruptive event. Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity, and the planning concentrates specifically on accessing data following a disaster or other unplanned outage.
Information Technology (IT) is critical in maintaining business continuity, as it assumes responsibility for essential operations such as data storage, communication, and application delivery. Without a dependable IT infrastructure, organizations would be incapable of sustaining crucial functions during and after catastrophic events.
There are four main components that encompass IT infrastructure, each bearing immense significance in maintaining business continuity and assisting with disaster recovery strategies.
Hardware – Servers, storage devices, laptops, desktops, mobile devices, and other pieces of hardware are particularly susceptible to damage or destruction during a calamity. That’s why it’s important to adopt hardware redundancy strategies, such as having backup servers ready in the event of failure.
Software – Similar to hardware, having redundant operating systems, applications, and databases can also help preserve essential functions in the face of software-related setbacks.
Networks – The backbone of IT infrastructure lies within networks, such as local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and the internet. Disruptions that interrupt the networks can result in communication breakdowns and the loss of critical resources.
Facilities: This is a physical location housing the IT infrastructure. Ensuring that you have backup facilities and redundant server rooms to handle primary functions in an emergency can safeguard your organization against losing IT services during facility-related challenges.
While disaster recovery is often an established function in many IT departments with respect to individual systems, BCDR is much broader than just IT, and it encompasses a range of facets, including employee safety, crisis management, and establishing alternative worksites.
Here’s a full rundown of all the ways in which having a business continuity and disaster recovery plan is critical for your organization:
Building a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy that ensures business continuity during a disaster or outage is one of the most important tasks you can undertake as an organization.
Here are 10 keys to building an effective BCDR plan:
Though essential, a BCDR plan alone is not enough to protect your business completely and ensure its continuity. More than just having access to data, an IT disaster recovery plan is a complete process that requires you to contemplate multiple scenarios. How long can your company go without email? What would it cost your operation to be unable to service clients? What would it do to workplace productivity?
You can take the stress out of the equation by investing in a cloud-based backup for your business. External storage options are available, such as hard drives and flash drives, but they require time and effort to update and can easily be stolen or lost. Additionally, while backup software and file sync solutions can be helpful, larger businesses need something much more robust and reliable. That’s why a cloud-based system such as that offered by Computer Resources of America is so helpful, allowing you to store a copy on the cloud and access it whenever you need it. And in the instance that a disaster or cyberattack causes data loss or corruption, you’re able to restore it and avoid an IT crisis.
With cloud-based backup from CRA, and an efficient and tested BCDR plan, you can stay one step ahead of a disaster and assume control in the event of an outage by tapping into features such as:
Click here to learn more about how Computer Resources of America can bolster your organization’s IT disaster recovery plans, or reach out today for full-service IT support!
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