Companies plan for various types of events, but a disaster that interrupts daily business is one event that many companies have not addressed. Most companies are statistically unlikely to experience a disaster that destroys the IT infrastructure, but businesses that experience such an event often emerge from it with somber advice to give: unless a company has a disaster recovery plan in place, the chances of it remaining in business following the disaster are grim.
Providers of IT consulting services are familiar with this advice; they give it to clients every day. What begins as a conversation about the importance of a recovery plan soon becomes a discussion about what comprises a good recovery plan. According to managed service providers that specialize in business continuity planning, an effective recovery plan is comprised of the following elements:
Offsite Data Storage
Many companies have the foresight to store proprietary data offsite, but simply storing the data offsite does not prepare a company for a disaster. In addition to being backed up at a secondary location, the data must be easily recoverable (i.e. migrated to new hardware three to five days after the disaster). In the era of cloud computing, offsite data storage is perhaps the most popular web-based IT service. To prepare for disasters, companies should store data with a service provider that can deliver the data within three to five days following a disaster declaration.
Emergency Hardware
The ability to recover lost data from a catastrophe will not do a company much good unless it has hardware on which the data can be stored. In addition to providing data storage, providers of IT consulting services that specialize in disaster recovery also supply emergency hardware. Following a disaster declaration, the hardware is expediently delivered to the client so it can recover this data and restore the IT infrastructure in a matter of days.
Alternative Business Location
A disaster that destroys the IT infrastructure often leaves the building uninhabitable. Without a location to house a temporary IT network, a company lacks a place to conduct business. Establishing an alternative business location before a disaster occurs is crucial for restoring the IT infrastructure in a short period. The service provider will recommend the ideal location.
Additional Staff
Following a disaster, a company may need additional staff for various reasons. Additional staffing is often needed to help implement the temporary network. It may also be necessary to replace employees who are either temporarily or permanently indisposed, incapacitated, or otherwise unavailable because of the disaster. In some cases, companies conduct business from an alternative location for a period of weeks or months. If they need additional staff during this time, the service provider can supply it. cloud disaster recovery services