In the last seven years there have been several studies surrounding disaster recovery uptake within SMBs globally . These surveys have revealed that around 50 to 60 per cent of small and mid-sized businesses worldwide have no disaster recovery ( DR ) plan . Of those that ‘ do ’ at least have a plan , around three quarters of them reported that they have never actually tested it . Within the quarter of those who ‘ did ’ actually test their plans , at least 25 per cent of them reported that the tests failed and they were unable to recover as expected . No matter which survey you look at , or which statistics you quote - it would seem that the vast majority of SMBs are both underprepared and ill-equipped to deal with a business critical event . The initial challenge for many businesses is to first understand the need and to agree internally that such a requirement cannot be ignored indefinitely . In the US , FEMA ( the Federal Emergency
|
Disaster : ‘ A sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage .’
Recovery : ‘ A return to a normal state of health , mind , or strength .’
|
Management Agency ) revealed that following a disaster around 25 per cent of businesses fail within one year , and amazingly around 40 per cent of businesses hit by a disaster did not even reopen at all . Despite this , the challenge to design , deploy and ( most importantly ) test a disaster recovery plan continues to fall to the bottom of many businesses ’ ‘ to-do ’ lists .
Similar to the data centre ‘ Tier ’ rating system , there are also several schemes that are used to measure the level of DR planning and implementation a business has achieved . The most common one uses eight levels and every business will be somewhere on the scale , which goes from Tier 0 ( no protection ) to Tier 7 , the maximum possible protection . A good starting point for any business ( whether a plan already exists or not ) would be to first establish the current Tier which it is at . This process in itself will spark discussion in areas such as ‘ acceptable downtime ’ and the ‘ regression period ’, so how long it will take to recover and how
|
much data ( time ) will have been lost when the recovery has been completed .
All the Tiers from 1 up to 7 require the use of an off site location . Tier 0 has no off site requirement , it is also the only Tier where 100 per cent data loss ( with no recovery at all ) is highly likely . Selecting the off site location should be part of a detailed analysis program , covering key criteria such as geographic location , security , availability and resilience . There is no point having a DR plan where your back up site has the potential to be offline when you need it the most .
Working closely with the DR facility is also key . Factoring in the availability of office space for staff , both end users and your IT team , is critical to the successful real world deployment ( and testing ) of your DR plan .
Whether outsourced or internally developed , your business deserves a well engineered and thoroughly tested DR plan , don ’ t let it down !
|
48 | June 2017 |