Disasters that affect data and IT systems represent a significant threat to all organizations. A natural disaster, power outage, equipment failure, fire, or another catastrophic event could result in lost revenue, equipment, operations, and productivity. According to FEMA, 40 to 60 percent of all small businesses never reopen following a disaster. Although it is not always possible to stop a disaster from occurring, businesses can prepare and protect against these threats. Disaster recovery services offer a wide range of benefits designed to help organizations address and protect against risks.
Fast Response Times
When an emergency or disaster occurs, time is of the essence. Disaster recovery services aim to help businesses quickly recover from a disaster and restart operations with minimal downtime.
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is an effective cloud computing service model that enables businesses to easily back up their data and IT infrastructure on a third-party cloud computing environment. In a disaster, a business can quickly regain access and functionality to its data and IT infrastructure.
Cost-Efficiency
A disaster recovery plan has several key components. It should outline preventative measures for reducing risks, detect measures for identifying unwanted events, and contain strategies for restoring lost data and resuming business processes.
Accomplishing these goals requires a business to analyze potential threats, maintain IT systems and identify solutions for achieving business continuity. Disaster recovery services can help minimize these expenses for businesses by saving them time and resources.
Greater Flexibility
The use of disaster recovery services gives businesses greater flexibility during the disaster recovery process. Many businesses choose to store important data in an off-site location as a safeguard if a disaster impacts their business. However, if the disaster is widespread, it could also impact other facilities.
Disaster recovery services that involve cloud solutions ensure that the emergency does not impact business data. Companies also have the flexibility of choosing what applications and data are most critical and need to be backed up and stored on the cloud.
Increased Productivity
When developing a disaster recovery plan, a team of leaders is selected to help in the recovery process. Each team member is given specific roles and responsibilities in advance to minimize downtime during and after a disaster.
Disaster recovery services help ensure that all bases are covered in the event of an emergency, including having several qualified individuals within the organization prepared to complete the tasks at hand in case one person is sick or on vacation.
Resource Conservation
With traditional data recovery, businesses are often forced to replicate their onsite data center. This involves building, securing, and maintaining facilities with servers, cooling controls, and other equipment.
This can be a costly endeavor for organizations. Disaster recovery services save businesses the upfront costs associated with building and staffing a second data center. Organizations are also not responsible for managing and conducting maintenance on managed IT service providers’ data centers.
Higher Customer Retention
Modern consumers expect businesses to be reliable and trustworthy. When businesses experience extended downtime or system failures, it can reflect poorly on a brand. Many customers will move onto a different service provider when a business cannot meet their expectations.
Disaster recovery planning helps businesses maintain a high level of customer service regardless of unexpected disasters. With help from a managed service provider, organizations can help minimize downtime and prevent the loss of important data.
Regulatory Compliance
Businesses in different fields face varying regulatory requirements. Failure to meet these regulations can result in hefty fees and other penalties. A solid managed IT recovery plan can help businesses remain in compliance.
This is especially important for organizations in certain fields, such as medical, food production, and financial services. The right solution can help keep businesses safe and protect their customers, patients, and the general public.
Preservation Of Brand Reputation
How a business handles an unexpected disaster or catastrophic event can say a lot about its professionalism and trustworthiness. When an organization fails to create a disaster recovery plan on behalf of the business and its stakeholders, it can lead to a drop in the business’s reputation.
Disaster recovery services can help an organization continue to deliver seamless service and meet ongoing customer demands.
Speak With A Managed IT Services Provider
Many modern businesses are heavily reliant on technology for daily business operations. Unfortunately, many of these organizations overlook the importance of having a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place.
When deciding if a disaster recovery plan is needed, consider how long the business would be able to continue running following a major disaster.
For more information about the benefits of disaster recovery services or to speak with a managed IT services provider, schedule a consultation with the IT experts at SeaGlass Technology today.