Would your business survive a catastrophic data loss? What would you do if one happened? Would your customers trust you? Would you be able to recover the data? The statistics are pretty shocking. Over 40% of businesses who suffer a major data disaster never re-open. Because of this, it pays to have a data recovery plan in place right from the start. Here are some tips for startup businesses.
1. Understand the Risks
The first thing you need to do is understand the risks your company is facing. When you know what these are, you can take steps to prevent them from happening in the first place. The most common risks that a startup faces are related to computer hardware, software and electronics. Because of this, having an IT provider on hand to help should you encounter any problems is a good idea.
In addition to computer failures, natural disasters can also cause untold devastation to a business. While many startup owners believe that a natural disaster won’t ever happen, the statistics say otherwise. Ensuring all of your data is backed up to the cloud and taking out insurance is a wise idea.
2. Assess How Critical Your Data Is
If you lose all of your data due to a hardware failure, theft or hack, it can be devastating for your business. Not only may you end up losing files that you require to complete the service you provide, but you may also be left with the realization that you need to contact all of your customers to let them know about a data breach.
By completing an assessment of the data that you hold, you can develop a recovery strategy that will help you get back up and running as quickly as possible. Many businesses opt to also have a company like Secure Data Recovery on speed dial as these professionals will deal with the problem for you, leaving you to focus on more important things. Encrypting data and protecting it in advance as much as possible is also key.
3. Consider the Impact of a Complete Server Failure
Finally, it’s important to look at the worst-case scenario – a complete server failure. Do you know how much downtime your company can withstand before the impact will start to cause unrecoverable havoc for your business? Most organizations, for example, could not do without email for any length of time. For others, a broken website would also be catastrophic, especially if it means orders aren’t placed and customers choose to buy from competitors instead.
By thinking about the impact of a complete server failure, you can again put preventative steps in place. For example, with email, you could set up additional accounts that can be used as a backup. And, with your website, you can ensure that it is backed up daily and, therefore, easily recoverable.
Data recovery planning is not something that a lot of startups consider. However, as you can see, it is vital that you have steps in place to protect your business.