Can Your Business Survive Data Loss?

According to a 2015 survey of IT decision-makers conducted by NTT Communications, nearly 50% of businesses don’t have a backup and recovery strategy in place for surviving data loss. Of those that do have a strategy, nearly a quarter have never tested it. In many cases, businesses consider disaster recovery neither a regulatory compliance issue nor a business continuity issue. In fact, according to The Wall Street Journal’s blog on the survey results, “Ninety percent of respondents said their companies spend 5% or less of their annual IT budget on disaster recovery planning.”

A sound backup and recovery strategy is imperative for business continuity and can help businesses recover quickly from data loss. For small businesses in particular, data loss can be catastrophic. In fact, the IDC estimates that the cost of the downtime spent recovering from data loss can approach $20,000 per hour. That cost may seem exorbitant, but consider the cost of a data breach that results in the loss of a hospital’s patient records. Other causes of data loss include:

• Natural disasters. Storms, fire, and other natural catastrophes can destroy buildings, prevent employees from getting to work, and halt productivity until power and communications are restored. Consider the cost of recovering a business in the path of California’s wildfires or a storm like Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy.
• Human error. According to Databarracks’ most recent Data Health Check survey, human error is responsible for one in five data loss events, ranking higher than both software and hardware failures.
• Hacks and security breaches. Although still less common than human error, malicious attacks on company systems can result in the loss or compromise of confidential documents and websites.

Simple Steps for Surviving Data Loss

Fortunately, businesses of any size can take immediate steps to reduce their risk of data loss. For example:

• Make sure that antivirus/antimalware software is up-to-date
• Limit access to sensitive data to only those who need it
• Use encryption to protect sensitive files, drives, and devices

In today’s data-rich business environments, protecting against data loss — whether it is inadvertent or as a result of a targeted attack — is no small task. An effective backup and recovery strategy is about more than just software — it’s about having the right expert assess your environment to help you create and implement the strategy that’s right for your business.

All Phases IT is a Denver-based IT management service that can help you protect your data and infrastructure proactively. Together, we can help prevent data loss before it occurs and avoid costly downtime. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation and evaluation of your disaster recovery strategy.