Having a Thorough Backup Plan is Critical

Take a moment to imagine yourself in this scenario: you are going about your day-to-day business when all of a sudden, something profound happens to disrupt operations, grinding productivity to a halt and possibly even putting your organization’s workers or infrastructure in jeopardy. No matter the disaster experienced, you need to have a plan in place to not only respond, but also recover from the incident in the most efficient way possible.

Listed below are some of the basic questions that you should be able to answer about your data backup and disaster recovery system, as well as how you should be answering them with the appropriate solutions.

Who Is Responsible for Taking Data Backups?

With the traditional method of taking data backups, you might have someone whose duties include taking backups manually. This method has traditionally utilized tape backups that must be set and taken manually every night. You can see how this might become a problem in the future, as there is always the possibility that, with manual solutions, someone might forget to set the tape. This can easily be avoided via the use of a cloud backup system that automatically takes the backup and eliminates the possibility for user error.

Where Are the Backups Stored?

In the aforementioned backup system that utilizes tape, where exactly are those tape backups being stored? They are probably collecting dust in a part of your office that could be better utilized for other purposes. Additionally, if your office is destroyed in the event of a disaster, you risk losing your backups in addition to your physical infrastructure. It’s better to store your backups in the cloud or an off-site data center where they will be safe from any events that would spell trouble for your company.

What Hardware is Receiving the Backups?

Once you have determined how and where the data backups are being stored, it’s time to consider what happens when it comes time to actually use them. Do you have hardware ready to go in the event that your business needs to deploy the backups in a moment’s notice? If not, we have news for you--chances are you will suffer from considerable downtime as you struggle to get operations back in order. You need to have some sort of hardware that can accept a cloud-deployed backup in at least some capacity to keep operations running on at least a minimal level. This is imperative to prevent downtime in as great a capacity as possible, as the real killer of businesses is the time spent not profiting or doing business.

If your data backup and disaster recovery strategy leaves something to be desired, Macro Systems can help you get it up to speed. Not only can we automate the entire process, but we can also equip your business with the tools needed to ensure that a disaster does not completely break your business (or the bank). Moreover, we will be there to support your company every step of the way so you can come out of any disaster scenario swinging.

To learn more, reach out to us at 703-359-9211.