FEATURE: DISASTER RECOVERY
Disaster Recovery is more
vital than ever. The loss
of data has more serious
consequences than ever
before not only because
of the loss of vitally
important information but
also because of the cost of
reputational damage that
can have a major impact
on business. In fact, it is no
exaggeration to say that an
effective Disaster Recovery
system is absolutely crucial
to the success of a business.
I
magine the ultimate IT disaster. A business loses its critical
data following a natural or human-induced catastrophe.
Loss of data can be caused by natural disasters such as
floods, hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes.
But there are also man-made disasters to take into account
such as hazardous material spills, infrastructure failure, bio-
terrorism, and disastrous IT bugs. While it is not possible to
prevent these it is possible to plan for such eventualities.
There is no doubt that if such situations are handled badly a
company can suffer serious reputational damage which will
do some sizable harm to the bottom line. In the worst cases,
businesses can be put in a situation from which they can never
truly recover.
Fortunately, in recent years huge strides have been made in
effective cloud-based Disaster Recovery systems.
eHosting DataFort offers Disaster Recovery and Business
Continuity solutions to recover business-critical applications in
case of a disaster. Intelligent CIO spoke to Sachin Bhardwaj,
its director of marketing and business development, about
how to best prepare for the worst.
If disaster strikes and a company loses its data, what
impact can this have on it?
94% of companies suffering from a catastrophic data loss
do not survive – 43% never reopen and 51% close within
two years, according to the University of Texas. Also, Gartner
reports that seven out of 10 small firms that experience a
major data loss go out of business within a year.
Data is crucial to businesses and the reliance on it is important
not just for the current operations, but also for future growth.
Since a disaster can strike in any form at any time, it can have
very serious consequences on an organisation. It takes its toll at
different levels, be it financial, reputation or confidentiality.
Given that most businesses rely on the use of technology
for their operations, manufacturing, processing, sales and
marketing, and with most departments relying on shared
data, any loss of data can elevate and escalate the negative
cost implications across the business. This can have both
short term and long-term consequences. It is of even more
consequence at a time when the news is spread rapidly across
social media outlets and can have a crippling effect.
What is also important is that some data is confidential and
can be connected to employees, customers, etc. While not only
breaching the trust of the concerned people, it can also lead to
huge amounts being spent on facing legal battles. And most of
all, every organisation spends tremendous time and money to
build customer loyalty and it is extremely difficult to regain trust
should a company be faced with data loss.
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