Disaster Recovery
Your Data, Your Plan, Your Survival
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Disaster Recovery Plan
"We
had friends who had their business burn down along with many of their neighbors. Many were
devastated because they were unprepared for a disaster." Ian MacCosley, Tech Consultant
A Disaster Recovery Plan is a must have for any business. Plans
can be as little as a one page outline with informations
pretaining to who, where, and how a given plan will be
implemented. This article intends to address many of the things
businesses of any size need to consider. After you read this
article, call 877-422-1907 for additional
considerations.Quote Request:
Contact me regarding a Disaster Recovery Plan
Non Tech Speak: How to Survive a Disaster
Your Data, Your Plan, Your Survival
Below you will find suggestions that were written for the non
technical business owner. These suggestions can help anyone
get their Disaster Recovery Plan started on the right track.
Listed in three short
categories, the information below will require little time or money to implement
yet could prove invaluable to any business in case of a
disaster.
Your Data:
1. Understand what data is key to your company's survival.
This would include data which might be kept in your accounting program, your contact management
software, your inventory software, e-mail, and even critical documents in Word or Excel
formats that were created by staff members.
2. Know where that key data is currently stored and when
possible enforce standards for storage locations. Knowing
what folder on what system needs to be backed up is an absolute
must and is as critical as knowing which bank and account your
money is in.
3. Be familiar with how often the data changes or is updated as
that will play a factor on how often it must be archived.
4. Understand the size of the data so that you will better
understand your data archive options. Understanding the size of
your data will also help prevent you from overpaying for a
service or product whose capacity is far greater than you will
ever need. Conversely, this knowledge can also prevent you from
wasting money on a product or service whose backup capabilities
are insufficient for your needs..
Your Plan:
1. An alternative Location(s) such as temporary office or
warehouse space should be considered in advance as,
depending on the size of the disaster, you may or may not have a
place to house your employees, your computer systems, or your
inventory.
Empty Office Photo: Be aware of office vacancies in
your area, keep conversation with landlords who may be able to
provide space in the event of a disaster
2. Vendor contact information should also be easily accessible
and secure in an offsite location. This will allow alternate
delivery locations or special instructions to be quickly passed
along to vendors.
3. Consider how you will communicate with your customers, both
public and private, and take necessary steps to ensure that
communication can be made quickly. This could include using a
copy of your client contact database for a quick e-mail, a
traditional letter sent via U.S. mail, or even an emergency home
page on your website explaining your plans during the time of
crisis.
4. Keep employee contact information and your employee
communications plan offsite. Discuss in advance how this will be
accessed in case of a disaster. Communications with your
staff will be critical to your quick recovery. Make sure they
know what to expect.
5. Make advanced contact with a
Computer Rental Firm to assess
the availability of the specific computer systems and office
equipment that are key to resuming your operation.
6. Organize an offsite collection of at least one set of media for all
standard software packages used at your office. This should
include a list of software key-codes or access information such
as usernames and passwords.
7. Investigate the availability of any critical proprietary
software used by your firm. Programs that could not be
replaced with a visit to the local software store or
that were custom installed by a vendor who left no media must
be researched in advance in order to ensure their timely
replacement.
8. Consult with a trusted
Computer Service Organization to implement a
practical data backup procedure and a plan for software
installation and data re-Installation.
Your Survival:
1. Understand that disasters do happen and your firm's survival
will depend on your ability to quickly recover with a minimum of
data loss.
2. Remember the cost of lost data is immeasurable and if severe
enough could lead to the collapse of any organization trying to
survive a disaster.
3. Never believe that a solid Disaster Recovery plan must be
either overly complex or cost prohibitive.
4. Act now because no one knows when a disaster can strike.
For more information on a common sense Disaster Recovery Plan
for your organization contact us today:
ComputerServiceNow.com
Voice: 877-422-1907
Fax: 513-422-9996
E-Mail:
Sales@csn1.com
Quote Request:
Contact me regarding a Disaster Recovery Plan
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