The reality is equipment breaks, computers die, networks go down and systems shut off every day. Then what? If your business is reliant on your computer systems–and most are–any of those circumstances will negatively affect you and your business.
With 3 out of 4 companies worldwide failing in terms of disaster readiness[1], are you confident that you will survive the winter if a disaster occurs? 93% 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. 50% of businesses that found themselves without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately[2].
Do you have a plan? Do you think it is overkill to have another server? Another data center? Can you afford any data loss? Can you afford days or weeks of downtime? These are questions that you should ask yourself before winter comes.
Having a plan and the necessary equipment in place is just the beginning. It is just as important to perform tests and validate the plan–more than 65% of companies do not pass their own DR tests[3].
There are several different options for protecting your company: from planning and executing everything in-house, to white glove services that will provide the DR environment and all managed services. Whatever option you choose, do not put yourself in a position where you find yourselves in the majority of companies who are not ready for a disaster.
Read about how one rental company experienced a disk failure that shut down their business and what they did to limit their exposure going forward. Click here to read Cresco Equipment Rental’s story and see some additional information on business continuity and disaster planning.
Written by Van Nguyen, Director of Systems Administration
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