Key Strategies for Disaster Recovery Planning
As we have seen this year IT disasters can come from natural forces such as a hurricane or flood or from the cyber world in the form of data breaches. The best way to prepare is to do just that make sure you are prepared. All too often disaster recovery planning is shelved for other priorities. In today’s world where customers expect 24/7 availability and your company’s data is also its lifeblood, disaster recovery planning can no longer be a secondary project.
ZDNet in a recent article provided these strategies to improve your disaster recovery solution. Here is a summary:
- Optimize your power back up. What tactics do you have in place for when a power outage occurs? How long can your backup system manage during an outage? Look for ways to optimize your backup choices for more efficiency
- Examine your cloud options. Using cloud services even if it is just for redundancy can be a real life-saver during a disaster event.
- Make sure you have failover options. Just as you would with your on-premise systems, explore what would happen if your IT vendor also experiences a disaster event
- Explore the benefits of virtualization. Virtualization can be a key component in your IT toolbox to mitigate downtime if a disaster occurs
- Back up your data. As data grows it can become more costly to take a one-size-fits all approach to backup. Instead talk with a knowledgeable IT partner to discuss your options to tier your data and utilize the most cost-effective and secure backup methods
During disaster recovery planning ZDNet also recommends an examination of your network solution and capabilities. First, having network redundancy will help you mitigate risk, because you are no longer tied to just one connection. Next, segmenting your network can be a great way to contain cyberattacks to just one area of your system. Finally, make sure you are using a modern, updated firewall.
Today’s IT teams have to wear many hats, but today’s IT threats demand the right expertise to mitigate risk and downtime and to protect data. Our experienced team is here to work with you to ensure your company develops an effective disaster recovery solution.
