Tag Archives: data recovery

Backup Disaster Recovery: Types of Disasters in the Workplace

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Losing your data can easily become a disaster in the workplace if proper precautions aren’t taken.

When you’re working in a business, one of the most important things to remember is managing your data. Whether you’re trying to keep it organized, or are deciding which files to delete, keeping your info secure is important. After all, you never know what could happen in the workplace. If anything, some of the most common disasters are completely unpredictable.

With that said, having a disaster recovery plan for your data is important. However, you need to be aware of some of the common disasters that can happen in a workplace as well. Sometimes these incidents are beyond your control, but other times, it’s entirely your fault. Overall, here are some of the causes for disasters that can happen in the workplace.

#1. Natural Disasters

One of the most common reasons businesses experience tragedy, is because of natural disasters. Sometimes, it’s a relatively small incident such as power outage. Occasionally, though, it’s downright devastating, such as a tornado or a hurricane. Not only do you experience a loss of data, but the workplace is destroyed as well. However, the worst part about the latter, is that essentially, it’s beyond your control. That’s not to say you can’t backup your information and prevent a loss of data, but the weather event itself can’t be avoided. With that said, you need to make sure you have a disaster recovery plan for any instance, big or small.

When dealing with a power outage, for example, make sure to have your information stored on a flash drive. That way, you still have all your data accessible even if an incident were to occur. Unlike weather related incidents, which you may know about even days ahead of time, power outages can happen in the blink of an eye. As for natural disasters, not only should your data be stored as well, but you should also have numerous buildings set up as part of your company. That way, it’s easy to transfer your data and continue on with your work.

#2. Careless Mistakes

As I had mentioned earlier, some incidents are beyond your control, while others are entirely your fault. It’s funny how many disasters in the workplace could be avoided if people just used some common sense (myself included). Sometimes, a disaster might befall your business because of the employees. For example, they may be uneducated on the importance of keeping your business data secure. Not to mention they might be unaware of the tips and tricks hackers use to compromise sensitive information. With that said, it would be easy for them to fall into a cybercriminal’s trap.

Let’s say one of your unsuspecting employees visited a website, and entered some personal information. Next thing you know, their business computer is infected, and they are unable to access their files. Other times, though, a disaster may be due to carelessly deleting files. You may end up discarding sensitive data that you thought wasn’t needed anymore. Always double-check to see if what you’re about to delete, will have any value in the future.

#3. Outdated Hardware

Another common disaster in the workplace, relates to outdated hardware. This is especially true if you own a personal laptop. Some business owners are relatively laid back about storing their data, as they feel their personal computer has a relatively long lifespan. However, that’s what many developers want you to think. Nowadays, to reduce the costs of developing a product, many devices are built with cheap hardware, laptops included. Not only does this shorten the lifespan of your computer, but it’s no coincidence that many laptops start experiencing problems shortly after the warranty expires. With that said, you want to have your data backed up at all times. There’s nothing more devastating than an unexpected crash causing you to lose all your data. Especially when you know you could have done something to prevent it.

For more information about backup disaster recovery, as well as common disasters that can befall a business, contact us today at SystemsNet. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Misconceptions of Backup Disaster Recovery

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There is a misconception that backup disasters don’t happen very often or, when they do, that they are easy to recover from.

Whether you’re working in a small or large business, it’s always essential to have a contingency plan. Between natural disasters that could damage the business itself, or man-made incidents that may cause a data breach, always be prepared for emergencies. With that said, while having a backup disaster recovery plan is important, you need to have a full understanding of it as well. Too often in the business world, there are numerous misunderstandings that companies may have about recovering from disaster, among other things as well. When thinking of ways to plan and recover from disaster, here are some common misconceptions. With that said, these should also give you a better understanding of what the true facts are.

Misconception #1: The Plan Doesn’t Need to Be Tested 

Among businesses, a common misunderstanding is that the backup disaster recovery plan, doesn’t needed to be tested out. This misconception is quite common among small businesses, especially when it comes to potential attacks from hackers. Not only are many under the impression that large businesses are an easier target, but also that big breaches don’t happen to companies like theirs. However, this is far from the truth. Statistics even show that 70 percent of all information breaches happen against companies with less than 100 employees.

As for large businesses, the plan should only be used and tested when an emergency happens, right? While this is true to an extent, also remember that the business world is unpredictable. You may not need to use your plan until years down the road, but an emergency might also happen sooner than you think. Either way, testing out your backup disaster recovery plan is always important. With that said, testing it out on a regular basis helps you to make any changes/updates as well. While your plan may be foolproof as of now, the current one may not be so helpful to you if an incident were to happen years down the road.

Misconception #2: My Business Can Be Easily Recovered 

Another misconception among organizations, is that they don’t need a backup plan, because their business can be easily recovered. However, this isn’t necessarily true. After all, natural disasters might not only cause a loss of data (such as a simple power outage), but they can severely damage the workplace as well. In some ways, though, man-made disasters are even worse. Aside from causing a loss of information, a breach in security could ruin your business reputation as well. In the long run, this would make it extremely difficult to recover.

For example, let’s say you had potential customers who had heard of a recent data breach in your company. It’s very likely they’ll look for business elsewhere. After all, they’re not going to risk having their information compromised.

However, out of all the disasters that could make it difficult to recover, ransomware is certainly the worst. Though it’s not a breach in information, it is a malicious tool in which a cyber criminal locks all files on your computer. Not only are you forced to pay a ransom, but failure to do so will cause all of your files to be deleted. Considering how ransomware is becoming harder to crack, and the hackers actually go through with their word, recovering from the incident is nearly impossible.

Misconception #3: My Employees Don’t Factor In

One final misconception among businesses is that employees aren’t a factor when creating a disaster recovery plan. After all, as long as you have things planned out, that’s all that matters, right? Remember, however, that being successful in the workplace requires teamwork. Between training your employees on what to do in case of emergencies, and educating them on the types of disasters, they are a crucial part of making sure your organization recovers.

For more information, contact us today at SystemsNet.

Backup Disaster Recovery: Concerning Questions

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Backing up your data is a crucial part of any data security plan.

Regardless of whether you’re working in a small or large business, there are several things you should concern yourself with in the workplace. Besides knowing how you’re going to plan ahead for the future, you should also be thinking of ways to train your employees in case of emergencies. Speaking of emergencies, they’re more common in the workplace than one would think. Whether a business has become victim to the latest hacking attempt, or the organization was damaged in a storm, having a backup disaster recovery plan is important. Of course, though, what are some questions you should be asking yourself? In relation to your recovery plan, here are a few concerning questions to keep in mind.

What Information Needs to Be Backed Up?

When creating a disaster recovery plan, it’s important to consider what data you should be backing up. When preparing for emergencies, many businesses simply store all the information they can, even the data that’s unimportant. While there’s nothing particularly wrong with this, it’s still unnecessary and can create problems in the long run. For example, let’s say one of the devices being used to store information was a USB flash drive. Despite the device’s ability to contain gigabytes of data, you may find you’ll run out of room fast if you try to store everything on it. Be smart about the data you plan to keep, while discarding anything that’s unneeded as well.

Lastly, you should always do a double-check when considering what information needs to be backed up on your computer. After all, you never want to accidentally discard anything of value. For example, there might be a project or piece of data you think isn’t needed anymore, but it may be of use again sooner than you think. Overall, concerning yourself with what information needs to be backed up, is an important question in regards to a disaster recovery plan.

Will I Need to Make Any Changes? 

Whether your employees are coming and going, or the policies in your workplace change, the business world is always changing. With that said, the same applies to your disaster recovery plan. Though you may be preparing for an emergency now, you may not need to take action until years down the road. When planning for disaster in your business, don’t just think in the “here and now”, but consider the future as well. Where do you see your business five years from now? Also, how can you use those predictions to make sure your plan runs smoothly? These are some important questions you should be asking yourself.

What Disasters Am I Prepared For?

When most businesses think of the word “disaster”, a tornado that destroys the entire workplace may come to mind. While it’s true that many businesses may suffer loss due to the weather or even a power outage, a disaster isn’t always because of natural conditions. For example, what if a fire accidentally started in your office, tarnishing your files? As a more common example, however, your company could experience a huge loss of information in a data breach. Back to main question, what disasters are you prepared for? When creating a recovery plan, it’s important to take every threat into consideration. Focusing on one type of disaster while ignoring the other, will leave you unprepared for what’s to come. When planning for data breaches or attacks from hackers, for example, you should think of ways to tighten your security. As for natural disasters, you may want to think about transferring your information to another organization. Better yet, you could set up multiple business locations as well.

For more information, contact us today at SystemsNet.

What to Include in Your Backup Disaster Recovery Plan

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Having a backup disaster recovery plan in place can ensure that you and your team know how to act if a major data loss occurs.

So you understand the importance of having a backup disaster recovery plan, and you’ve probably put a lot of thought and work into figuring out what you would do in any number of worst-case scenarios, but you may have missed one very important step. Until you’ve written it down, your plan isn’t finished. A plan that has been written down and shared will gain much more respect and understanding than one that hasn’t. Both of those things are necessary for the plan to actually work. It really should be more than just a few notes scribbled on a couple of pages though. Write it more like a policy. Compare it to your privacy policy, or something similar, for professionalism. Once you have it all written out, make sure you’ve actually included absolutely everything. Here are a few details to make sure you’ve included in your plan.

A chain of command

When everything is falling apart, especially if the situation doesn’t perfectly fit a situation described in the plan, everyone will be scrambling to figure out who is in charge. It’s very important that this is decided before a disaster occurs. Knowing who will be in charge of who, and who will be allowed to make which decisions will prevent mistakes later. It will also save a lot of valuable time in the case of an emergency.

 

A timeline

Make your plan much more specific by noting the amount of time that each step should take. First, this will keep everything aligned. One department won’t be confused by another department being two steps behind. Second, it will keep the entire office working quickly. It’s easy to slow down when you’re tired, and by halfway through a disaster situation, your employees will be exhausted. However, hours and minutes are crucial in this process. Make sure you can keep your employees moving as quickly as possible to get everything back on track.

Names

You can clear up a lot of confusion ahead of time by specifying who is supposed to do what. It’s really easy to just note that something should be done, but if no name is next to the task, it’s likely to never happen. At least mention which department is supposed to accomplish a task, and if possible, give the responsibility to a specific position. It’s even better if you can put an employee’s actual name next to a task. This will cause that employee to feel ownership over the task, and there’s no better way to encourage an employee to do a great job.

Plans for education

No matter how perfect your plan is, it is guaranteed to fall apart if no one knows what is supposed to happen. Make sure that your entire staff knows exactly what to do in the case of a disaster. Some companies might do this through a series of classes. Others might simply cover a different aspect of the plan for an hour in a weekly meeting. You know how your employees think, and you know how they learn best. Use these methods to make sure that they know the backup disaster recovery plan as well as you do. And then put that in the plan as well. This will help to encourage it to continue to happen just as it should. Remember, educating your employees is by far the most important part of your disaster recovery plan.

Still interested in learning more about writing a backup disaster recovery plan? We’re experts in the industry, and we can help you with that, or anything else that you need. Contact us. We’re here to help.