Tag Archives: #DataBackup

Ten Disaster Recovery Statistics You Should Know

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): Businessman working on his laptop showing management of company data using cloud backup - concept of disaster recovery strategies

Have a clear disaster recovery plan for your organization.

Data loss is a serious problem that can have a devastating effect on businesses. In fact, data recovery statistics show that data loss can be extremely costly and time-consuming. Here are some of the most recent data recovery statistics that explore the reality of data loss.

  • Gartner found that 72 percent of organizations are not well-positioned with regard to disaster recovery capabilities, with 59 percent of respondents expecting budgetary increases for disaster recovery this year.
  • Companies without an effective disaster recovery plan stand to lose millions. According to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute (adding up to more than $300,000 per hour). For large organizations, that number tops half a million dollars.
  • Ransomware is a huge concern, and many people don’t realize that their disaster recovery plan may not work when they need it most. This adds significant risk to your ability to recover from ransomware if you are not prepared for the attack. In a recent study, IDC reported that 37 percent of companies worldwide were hit by ransomware in the previous 12 months. The average ransom paid was $250K, though some hackers asked for as much as 1M dollars.
  • Ninety-six percent of companies with a trusted backup and disaster recovery plan were able to survive ransomware attacks.
  • A disaster can strike at any time and without warning, so it is imperative that you have a plan in place to help your company recover quickly from these events. However, FEMA found that 20 percent of companies have no disaster recovery planning in place.
  • A report by the Ponemon Institute reveals that 93 percent of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster, filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. Fifty percent of businesses that found themselves without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately.
  • Cloud backup can be an incredibly useful tool when it comes to data recovery. According to Statistica, as of 2019, 94 percent of the small-sized organizations who were surveyed worldwide claimed that they had used the cloud for data storage or backup.
  • A study by IBM on data recovery planning, including the cost and frequency of data breaches, showed a decrease in costs by more than 30 percent in organizations that embrace proactive recovery programs. The research shows that organizations who invest in automated disaster recovery have an operational edge over those without. They also maintain their business reputation and financial success, which is crucial for growth.
  • Disaster recovery planning is one of the most important aspects of protecting your business. But how often do you actually test your disaster recovery plan? A report by Statistica reveals that only 35 percent of respondents stated that their company tested its disaster recovery plan on a quarterly basis as of 2019.
  • A  report by UniTrends found that cloud-based Disaster Recovery-as-a-Software (DRaaS) will be used by 59 percent of businesses by 2021. Currently, 36 percent of businesses use this, and a further 23 percent plan to add the technology within the next year.

The above statistics are a wake-up call for many businesses. Having a well-designed and effectively maintained disaster recovery plan in place will substantially increase your ability to recover lost data, returning you back into normal operations as quickly with minimal business disruption.

SystemsNet is the trusted choice for complete network solutions. With almost 20 years in business, they’ve built a reputation as an industry leader and provide reliable services that meet your needs with tailored plans for any budget. Contact us for more information on our complete line of disaster recovery solutions for your business.

Does Your Business or Organization Have A Backup Disaster Recovery (BDR) Plan?

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A backup disaster recovery plan can make all the difference if disaster strikes.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to remind business owners and IT managers that the greatest time to plan for natural disasters is before it actually happens and not during or after they happen. When you review your current plans and strategies, how prepared are you for another pandemic or natural disaster?

COVID-19 continues to be spread from person to person across various states, and states of emergency were already declared in multiple efforts to take on the terrible outbreak. As more decisions need to be made in regard to reopening’s and internal/external changes, now is a great time to pull out your plans and strategies and make the necessary changes to your Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) plan.

What is a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan?

A Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan is a system of processes and procedures that everyone in your workplace will need to follow if a disaster or pandemic strikes. Your Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan should be one of the keys to helping your business survive during some of the toughest times that life may throw at it.

Do You Have A Plan?

Unfortunately, the majority of small businesses and many mid-size and large businesses do not have an effective Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan. Unfortunately, over 90 percent of those businesses will not survive if an outbreak, pandemic, or disaster as powerful as COVID-19 strikes. When a business or organization experiences significant downtime, a business or organization can lose thousands of dollars every minute the business is not operating.

Would your business or organization live to operate during the next year if you are forced to close your doors again for a significant period of time? It does not matter what your level of business is and what industry you are a part of, there is always a chance disaster could strike and impact your place of business.

Prevention Is Key

Before you make any decisions related to your Backup and Disaster Recovery plan, it is important to perform a full risk assessment. When you perform a risk assessment, your results will provide you with the tools you need to prepare you for any type of disaster. When you perform a risk assessment, you should take the following steps:

  • Create an inventory list of your equipment, networks, and security features that are a part of your business
  • Create a list of anything that may be a security risk
  • Gain an understanding of how your systems work and if they are working properly
  • Determine if there is anything in your business infrastructure you may be missing

It does not matter what type of problem or disaster may strike your business, it is important to make sure communication is open and accepted. One person should not be in charge of everything because no one person will be able to help a business or organization recover from any type of problem or disaster. As you prepare your Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan, it is important to remember the importance of communication.

Everyone should be aware of whom they can call during the event of an emergency. How many of your employees will take on a lead role? How many communication channels will be available during an emergency? Everyone should be aware of when the Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan should be initiated, and they should be aware of their role.

If you are preparing to create an improved Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan or if you are creating a BDR plan for the first time, please feel free to contact us today for more information.

Types of Backup and Storage Plans

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3D Rendering Data Storage Archive Backup and Storage Plans concept

What are my backup options for my business?

At this point in the digital transformation, most businesses are aware that computer and data backups are essential. The ability to restore your information and your infrastructure is a safety precaution that it would be foolish not to have prepared. If a hacker ransomwares your network, a good backup can make it possible to simply wipe and restore instead of fretting about lost files. If a natural disaster takes out your office building, the right backups can allow you to completely set up shop somewhere new.

But not all backups are equal. Backups built and managed by a hands-on IT team are likely going to have a few more useful traits and features than a default backup system set-and-forgotten out of the box. Let’s take a closer look at the differences you might see in your backups and improvements that can be made to any business backup system.

Local vs Cloud Backups

The first important backup decision to make is where to store them. Backups are compressed, but they are still huge files that contain copies of entire databases, networks, and operating systems. Backups stored locally are more accessible, you don’t even need outside internet access to copy, open, and restore from local backups. Local backups are faster and more convenient in the office, but they are also more vulnerable.

If the server banks containing your local backups are damaged or disrupted, your backups could be lost. Fire, flood, sabotage, and self-spreading malware all put your local backups at risk.

Cloud backups are absolutely safe. Cloud server storage is not just remote from your location, it’s also distributed so that copies of your backups are stored in storage repositories all over the world. You will always be able to access your backups, and your backups will be safe from all but the most insidious server-host attacks. You can even download your backups from the cloud to restore a computer in an entirely remote location.

But cloud backups must be downloaded every time you make a restoration and uploaded to the cloud every time a new backup is taken, which can be a real pinch with limited or metered bandwidth.

Automated vs Manual Backups

The next question is how you handle your regular backups. Backups must be made periodically so that the data is up-to-date if you need to restore your systems from a backup. But when and how do you take those new backups? Manual backups are those taken by a person enacting the backup process. They may be entering a series of commands or even hand-copying data from one server to another.

Automated backups are when a program runs itself to make copies of all the necessary data and then stores those copies where they can be found if a recovery is needed. Automated backups take up far less time, but much be managed. If an automated backup malfunctions or if the process is flawed, it might create useless backups while creating a false sense of security.

Data vs Infrastructure Backups

Now consider the size and complexity of your backups. There are many different ways to take backups based on how you expect to enact recoveries and restorations. Some businesses only bother to backup one server of data or just one database because everything else they need or use is a SaaS program or cloud service that doesn’t need to be backed up. Data backups are those that only include data that will be reloaded into a fresh identical server.

On the other hand, some businesses intentionally backup the entire infrastructure for each workstation, server, and network. With a more comprehensive backup, you can create an identical work environment beyond your most important data. Infrastructure backups make for faster recoveries and far less new installation setup for workstations that are wiped and recovered.

What types of backups and recovery plans will work best for your business? It all depends on how much downtime you can afford and how much risk your data may be facing. If you’d like to consult on managed IT backup and recovery services for your business, contact us today!

Disaster Recovery Preparation

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Businessman shows concept hologram Recovery on his hand. Disaster recovery preparation concept

The key to disaster recovery is preparation for when it does occur.

Computer users come in many flavors, shapes, and backgrounds. Some merely use computers for simple tasks such as checking E-mail, news, weather, and various other data statistic feeds — these are all simple tasks that don’t require thought about computer maintenance or file/data backup. Other users have a more data-sensitive approach where storing files and various other types of data in a computer are a major factor in their day-to-day computer usage — this means that computer maintenance and data preservation take on a whole different sense of priority. Business owners and managers, for example, would not be able to continue operations after an event that causes data loss unless sound data-backup policies are in place — business continuity and uninterrupted profit should be the priority of businesses, therefore the following preparations and protocol should be part of a business’ IT policy.

Self-Service

There are options for self-servicing, although it’s recommended to obtain professional consulting when setting up any of the following options. There are options within computer operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, and various other operating systems that provide for either manual or scheduled backups of computer files and data. Sometimes third-party programs are preferable if the native programs within the operating system do not fit the needs of the computer user. Whatever the case, granular control of the backup programs can be achieved through various settings. For example, a date and time can be set to run the backup program. Selection of specific folders, directories, and files can be set for backup. Retention settings can be set that determines how long certain files are kept in storage — this helps to manage storage space. Encryption options are also available for backed up files so that they cannot be read by unauthorized individuals. All of these settings can be set to run automatically — on a schedule — or they can be set and run manually.

Other kinds of self-service might include relatively easy methods such as “copying and pasting.”  This is a manual type of backup where the user will use the computer keyboard or mouse to copy specific files and/or folders over to an external drive such as a flash drive or external hard drive connected via USB ports. Archiving, retention, and encryption of the files lie in the discretion of the user.

Cloud storage is another form of self-service whereby computer users with an internet connection may subscribe to an internet backup service. Automatic or manual backup using these services are optional. Users may configure the service the same way as in computer operating systems expect that storage is on the internet provided by the backup services. Typically, internet backup service providers will allocate a small amount of free storage space to allow testing their platform. If the computer user likes the service and requires additional storage space, it can be purchased.

Outsourcing

As mentioned previously, self-servicing, especially within environments where data preservation is critical, should be done under the advisement of professionals who understand the twists and turns of backing up computer data. However, self-servicing can be extremely burdensome to companies because of the fact that running businesses is stressful enough without having to deal with the technical side of the computer equipment being used. The priority of a business is ideally production — whereby time is not wasted troubleshooting and dealing with the caveats that can come with backing up computer files and data. IT professionals know exactly how to set up and maintain computer backup programs and services, and properly store the data where it cannot be lost, damaged, or stolen. It’s generally recommended for businesses with a high emphasis on production to obtain the consistent services of professionals who thoroughly understand computer backup systems.

SystemsNet specializes in a wide variety of computer technologies and with many years of experience. Please contact us.