Modern businesses are reliant upon their data for all aspects of their business. Imagine what would happen if that data was suddenly unavailable? A company would have a hard time functioning. Statistics suggest that 80 percent of businesses will fail after a disaster or massive data loss within the year However, a disaster recovery plan could help them survive. This plan is a documented, structured, and tested procedure used by companies to respond to unplanned incidents.  Having one in place significantly improves their chances of survival. No business today should operate without a plan. Here’s why disaster recovery is essential for businesses.

Protect Data

Think about all the data you aggregate, consume, and store on a daily basis. Without it, you’d be unable to access information needed for:

  • Marketing analysis and performance tracking
  • Customer service transactions
  • Sales and business trends
  • Consumer analysis
  • Recruitment and hiring

Data is a business asset that can’t afford to be lost. Yet, all it takes is one natural disaster, server crash, hack, fire, flood, or another unanticipated event, to destroy data.

Minimize Downtime

There is also downtime to consider. How long can your business afford to be offline or have interrupted service? What is an acceptable level of time? One hour? Eight hours? A day?  A week? Most businesses have a low tolerance for any downtime if they want to avoid a catastrophic financial loss.

Disaster Recovery Ensures Brand Protection

After a business suffers a massive disruption, it can do irrevocable damage to their brand. Consider any of the high-profile data breaches that have occurred and the negative perception of those brands that followed. Small businesses may not be as high profile but are still just as vulnerable to brand damage. Even if the data loss occurred due to a natural disaster or fire, the company will still be perceived by customers as the brand that had an inability to provide its product or service. Maintaining customer trust is essential and having a disaster recovery plan in place can help to maintain this trust.

Unfortunately, too many businesses are complacent about disaster recovery thinking it won’t happen to them. It’s an expensive lesson to learn that no business is invincible and accidents indeed happen.

Putting a proactive plan in place can be likened to insurance. You’ll need to have it in the event of an accident but hope to never have to use it. If your company doesn’t have a plan and would like to learn more about managed disaster recovery, contact Modern Office Methods today. We’re happy to provide information and answer any questions.