In today’s digital world, practically all businesses rely heavily on the data that is stored on their servers.
Without that data, a company literally stops functioning.
For this reason, a business should have both a data backup plan and a disaster recovery plan.
Not only is it important to have the backup information available when required, it is equally important to have an action plan to get those backups available within hours and not days.
Why is this action plan so important?
Like we said before, without its data, a business is stranded.
Therefore, if there's data loss, a company would want to have all that data back as soon as possible in order to minimise the disruption to its business activities.
In this blog, we are going to discuss the importance of backups and disaster recovery for businesses, and we will be suggesting which is the best way to implement a data backup plan and a disaster recovery plan.
So, stay with us......
To understand better how important backups and disaster recovery are, you need to understand what data loss means in terms of lost business and productivity.
Basically, you need to ask yourself a few questions.
What type of impact will data loss have on my business?
How will it affect the company's productivity?
How will it affect our reputation?
How will it affect sales?
Let us start with productivity.
Businesses that don’t have plans in place in the event of data loss will suffer a disruption in productivity, ultimately leading to reduced profits.
We will provide a simple example.
Certain company documents are used on a daily basis by more than one employee to complete specific tasks. In the event of data loss, these documents will no longer be available until recreated.
During this period, employees will be unable to complete their daily tasks.
Why?
Because they are busy recreating the lost documents, instead of doing their usual tasks to help the business move forward.
And, without a doubt, this leads to a disruption in productivity.
Simply having a data loss plan, along with a backup system, will minimise the disruption to your employee’s productivity.
Instead of recreating documents from scratch, it would be easier and faster to restore the lost data from the latest backup, saving time and money.
This way, your employees will be busy with their everyday tasks, in their mission to help your company be more profitable.
Data loss can also have a negative impact on your business’s reputation.
How?
Many clients may notice that your company has experienced data loss.
For example, they will try to access your website, but find out that it's been down for a long period.
Or they have sent an e-mail to your company and, because employees are busy recreating lost documents, they don't have time to respond to e-mails.
Needless to say, this can affect trust built with your clients, as they may view your business as unreliable.
And, more often than not, when clients lose their trust in you, you've lost them forever!
With a data backup plan and a disaster recovery plan, you need not worry about your clients' trust because your company's website will be up and running in no time, minimising downtime.
Moreover, your employees would be able to respond to the customers' queries via e-mail as usual, given that they would not be required to recreate the lost documents.
Finally, data loss also has the ability to impact sales and conversion rates for businesses.
Again, we will provide a simple example.
Most retail outlets have a database system in which all the data about products, prices, stock availability, etc. is stored.
Now think about the repercussions if this database is unavailable due to data loss on the server.
Imagine having a shop full of customers and, in order to provide them with information about your products, your shop assistants must go check physically in your warehouse about their availability or manually check the paperwork for their prices!
End result?
Clients will get fed up of waiting and, most of them, will leave.
Meaning?
Loss of sales!
Data ensures businesses operate smoothly in order to generate sales.
Consequently, in the event of data loss, certain companies may be unable to operate normally until data is restored.
Once again, in this scenario, having a data loss plan in place will help recover your database immediately, and sales or conversion rates will not be impacted.
Preventing data loss is as important as ensuring data is backed up.
Data can be lost due to a number of factors, including amongst others:
For this reason, you need to have an on-site and an off-site backup.
As the name suggests, an on-site backup is the backup device that you have installed at your offices – if you don’t have this already, then you are in serious trouble!
On-site backups are great for quick file recovers or restoring a failed server.
On the other hand, an off-site backup is a backup stored far away from your office building.
This type of backup is your business saver when you find yourself in a critical situation with your office, like theft or a fire.
In these cases, an off-site backup is your only recovery option.
Without a doubt, one of the best off-site backups that you can have is a cloud-based backup.
By investing in a cloud backup solution, you are putting the action plan we mentioned at the start of this blog "into action", literally.
Why?
Because, with a cloud-based backup, you have a data backup plan and a disaster recovery plan in place.
The best cloud backup solutions providers use state-of-the-art facilities, and utilise the latest innovations in hardware and software.
This means that cloud-based backups offer:
In addition to the above, a cloud solution will also help keep costs down.
You no longer need to invest large sums of money.
Instead, you simply pay a monthly fee and enjoy the efficient services, while keeping your mind at rest that your precious data is secure.
You will surely agree that your company’s data is priceless, and you would never dream of losing it.
Just think about the repercussions if there's a catastrophic event.
Imagine, for a moment, how data loss can affect your business's productivity.
Your company's reputation.
Sales and conversion rates.
If you don't have an action plan for your business, it will be very difficult to restore back all the data exactly as it was.
It's practically an impossible task.
Especially if your company has been operating for a number of years!
In fact, there were various cases in which businesses had to close their doors as a result of data loss.
And this can all be avoided by simply investing in a data backup plan and a disaster recovery plan.
We can help ease your data loss concerns by setting up, configuring, and maintaining a cloud-based backup solution for your business.
This way, if disaster strikes, you will have a data backup plan and a disaster recovery plan in place – meaning that your business will resume its activities almost immediately.
Get in touch with us, and we will provide you with a no obligation consultation.
Stay safe ... and keep your precious data safe!
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