In the event of a disaster that affects the data of your business, the day-to-day running of your company will be affected, costing hours of work and money in the process. Putting in place a stringent business disaster recovery plan to deal with such issues is important for any business, no matter what size they, the number of staff on the books, data being processed or the type of information.

There are generally three types of event that can occur that lead to the loss of data or a shut down of business systems, affecting the running of a business:

Human Error – This can be the accidental deletion of files and data by a single individual, or a larger error caused by one person.

Natural Disaster – Whether a large-scale event that affects a local area, or theft, power outage or damage caused by fire, flood or other event, this can have severe consequences for a company’s business premises.

System Failure – Sometimes no matter how strict a protocol is set up an IT system for a company can fail or shut-down.

If you know that these type of events can cause data loss or system shut down, what can you do about it to ensure that downtime is to a minimum and your data is available soon after the event?

A backup and disaster recover system should be installed at all companies, utilising the expertise of IT professionals. It is always best to use the knowledge of an IT support company, rather than relying on your own backup techniques, if your expertise lies elsewhere.

There are a number of benefits to a backup and disaster recovery plan.

Maintain Consistency of Staff Productivity

Any type of disruption causing downtime for a business is bad news for making money. In fact, you’ll be losing money the longer the time spent not working as normal. There are always calls to made, client and supplier emails to reply to and important data and information to access. When this can’t be achieved it’s bad news all round. A backup and disaster recovery plan ensures there is a fast and effective solution at these critical moments, allowing you and your staff to get back to working in the shortest possible time.

Maintain Integrity and Reputation

The longer a business is in downtime due to system shutdown of systems, the more damage is being done to its reputation. With customers, suppliers and the outside world there could be a dramatic loss of trust, especially if an agreed service cannot be completed on time or to the desired standard because of the problems faced.

Keep Ahead of the Competition

Another reason to have a backup and disaster recovery plan in place is that should the above problem happen and your reputation takes a hit, you might see a drain of customers to the competition. Online reviews of companies and the rise of social media means that everyone will know about the problems you face should you not have a fast solution for them.

Data Compliance

Lastly, for certain types of information and data, especially financial, medical and legal, it is vitally important that data is stored securely for legal reasons. Any downtime and potential data breach can have dire consequences for the owners of business that are more far reaching than just the company damaging its reputation.