Disasters and other business disruptions are not uncommon, unfortunately, and most managers are surprised by this. Fires, tornados, earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes are frequent events throughout parts of the US and beyond – and these are just the naturally occurring events. Add to these human errors, accidents, and power outages and the likelihood for a business related disaster is fairly high.

A Gartner report suggests that 40% of small and medium-sized organizations that cannot retrieve data lost in a disaster within 24 hours will eventually close. The US National Fire Protection Agency reported that 43% of companies that suffer a fire never resume business.

Many industry-mandated and regulatory best practices today require a written business continuity (BC) or disaster recovery (DR) plan. Even industries that do not have restrictive regulations in place can realize significant customer loss after a disaster. In short, a well thought out disaster recovery plan can make or break the success of a company facing a disaster, and more importantly the plan needs to be updated and tested regularly.

Disaster recovery is not necessarily a daunting task, but rather involves relatively simple and inexpensive technologies. These technology solutions are widely available, reasonably priced, and fairly well known, and include:

• An assortment of cloud-based and managed-service options

• Low-cost virtual tape libraries or disk-to-disk solutions

• Communication solutions encompassing Wi-Fi, smartphones, social networks, cellular and shared online environments

While simple in nature, a good disaster recovery plan does require proper preparation and ongoing maintenance to ensure success. Since disasters by nature are unexpected, the technology needs to be ready and updated, tested. And, the disaster recovery plan needs to have the full commitment of the entire organization – especially senior management.

With the proper time and preparation, you can rest more comfortably knowing that you have the right people, data, and plans. These six best practices should help in that endeavor:

• Get a thorough business impact assessment

• Source qualified disaster recovery and/or business continuity planners and project managers

• Invest the appropriate time, money and resources, which will vary depending on your business model and vertical

  • Plan for alternate lines of communication

• Test often and thoroughly and make changes as needed

• Keep your plans accurate, current and using the best technologies your budget can provide

Today, almost every organization is dependent on computerized information systems – for better or worse – for electronic data management and commerce. While streamlining business processes, it has also created huge liability for companies that are unprepared for a disaster. Don’t risk it! Start your DR plan today.