How to Choose the Right Disaster Recovery Solution for Your Business Needs & Budget

In New England, we are safer from natural disasters than most areas of the U.S., however there are many other “disasters” that can affect your business. Cybercrime has risen sharply, impacting nearly 47% of businesses over the past year and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

The right disaster recovery solution for your business will depend greatly on your specific business needs, balanced with what your budget will allow. Your managed IT service provider can help create and implement a disaster recovery plan that will minimize the costs associated with an unforeseen event.

Step 1: Prioritize your needs. Which business systems do you need first? Different systems may require different disaster recovery solutions.

Step 2: Determine your minimum data recovery point. What is the most recent version of your data you could fall back to – real-time, 24 hours, 3 days, etc.? Cloud file servers keep your data instantly backed up as soon as you save the file. Other systems back up to an on-premise server or remote server every evening.

Step 3: Determine how quickly you need access to the systems. Disaster recovery (catastrophic loss such as a natural disaster or data corruption) or business continuity (ability to operate from a different location if necessary) may require different solutions.

Once you have these answers we can determine which disaster recovery solution fits your budget and needs best.

File Backup & Recovery

At a bare minimum keep mission-critical, company data backed up to a safe location. Data stored in the cloud or duplicated to on & off-site hard drive backup devices can be restored in the event of an emergency.

For larger businesses with over 10 users, file backups may not be enough. Although your data is secured, it does not account for the recovery process of your IT infrastructure. It will take longer to become “business operational” if you don’t have access to all the applications, servers and workstations you rely on daily.

Hot-Site Recovery

Organizations who can’t afford extended downtime may benefit from having a second set of computers with the same apps used every day, with data that is kept up to date in real time. Duplicate infrastructure with real-time data storage is commonly known as a Hot-Site recovery plan. Although this solution is one of the most expensive, it virtually eliminates downtime during a disaster.

Virtualized Recovery Solution

With the prevalence of high-speed internet and cloud computing, it is possible for many businesses to run with minimal hardware needs. Access virtual servers and desktops over the internet and/or using cloud applications. Virtualization allows businesses to “pick up and go” from any computer, without the need of duplicate infrastructure. This reduces costly downtime during an emergency and can be much less expensive than a hot-site recovery plan.

Want to learn more about your options? Check in with your account manager or schedule an IT Continuity Analysis for your business: https://www.clearcomit.com/it-continuity-analysis/