Hurdles that enterprises face can never be eliminated, but the best that can be done is to mitigate them by coming up with measures that can be used to predict the possibility of a catastrophe occurring. Most disasters in an enterprise tend to happen due ignorance and failure to properly educate employees on the best measures that can be adopted. A disaster recovery plan is essential for any business as it helps all staff to understand how they should undertake their daily activities and act in case an emergency occurs.
Disaster recovery plans regularly vary from one business to another, and this factor is significantly determined by the niche in which an enterprise operates. While other firms are substantially exposed to many risk factors, others are a little bit safer, but there is no guarantee that a particular company is disaster proof. The best solution is to develop strategies that will be used to avoid the occurrence of the dangers and define what should be done in case the actual mishaps occur.
For that reason, it is possible for any business to reduce the time taken to fully recover from a disaster, and continue providing services to clients as the continuity of the business is most important in this case. In most cases, it is common to find that the scenarios that are ignored are the ones that end up affecting the enterprise leading to massive losses. For example, preparation for power outages and hardware failure are in most cases ignored, but when they occur for extended periods of time, then it becomes impossible for a business to discharge services efficiently.
Common Disasters
Hardware Failure
Most enterprises depend on information technology systems for operations and technology is always bound to fail at one point or the other. When hardware failure is encountered, especially that which is directly related to the server, the access of information becomes impossible. Hardware failure cases may range from hard drive crash, motherboard short circuiting, or wrongfully terminated cables.
Software corruption
The server in any enterprise should be greatly protected from the corruption of the server’s operating system, or applications that are used to access information in server automatically leads to loss of data. Software corruption commonly occurs due to failure to undertake updates consistently, and this eventually leads to the development of bugs.
Cyber Attacks
Cyber-attacks are typically orchestrated by individuals who intend to acquire unauthorized access to company information. Enterprises, especially those that are growing, fail to setup firewalls that will help to deter attackers. In the worst case scenario, attackers acquire company information, and then they demand payment from the victim company so that data is released.
Power Fluctuation
A power outage is a factor that is mostly unforeseen by most enterprises. The problem usually occurs when the power supply is interrupted for lengthy periods of time. When companies cannot access information that is located on its servers, then the offering of services becomes impossible. Billions are usually lost when service delivery is interrupted, and the value is approximated to be about $8600 each hour of the power outage.
Natural Disasters
Natural disasters are very difficult to prevent, and they range from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and tornadoes. Their effect is usually destructive towards normal business activities. The destruction that is extended by such disasters is long lasting, and the only way that a business can be able to recover from such catastrophes is to inject finance and restart normal operations. Natural disasters are unpreventable, and their occurrence is always destructive.
Disaster Resolution Options
Even before an enterprise comes up with a disaster recovery plan, it is important to identify the problem that may occur. The next step should be identifying measures that can be used to prevent the occurrence of a disaster, and what should be undertaken in case the actual problem occurs. Sharing of information is crucial as it helps to share ideas on the best ways of resolving the issues.
The IT infrastructure should be significantly protected by establishing firewalls and installing software that can prevent malicious access. In addition to this, occasional data backup should be conducted to ensure that in case of software corruption, hacking, or hardware failure, then a copy of the original data can be used to facilitate the continuity of the business.
Since natural disasters cannot be avoided, and it therefore necessary for companies to set aside emergency funds that will help the company to recover from total or partial damage. Offsite data stores are essential in ensuring that redundancy of company information is achieved.