A disaster recovery plan is more than simply an insurance policy. It is a realistic contingency plan for any event that may have a significant impact on an organisation’s ability to conduct normal business.

1. Addressing the Critical Business Need for Disaster Recovery
A disaster recovery plan is more than simply an insurance policy. It is a realistic
contingency plan for any event that may have a significant impact on an organisation’s
ability to conduct normal business.
According to AM Best, only 6% of companies recover after a catastrophic data loss. 43%
do not reopen, and 51% fail within 2 years.
‘Disasters’ are not simply limited to natural events, but can include hardware failure,
accidental deletion or simply a burst pipe.
Without a Disaster Recovery plan, organisations risk:
 Breaching compliance regulations & laws
 Permanent loss of critical information
 Incurring high costs of recovery attempts
 Lost revenue and profitability
 Damage to client relationships and reputation
Why backup alone isn’t enough
Many organisations confuse backup with disaster recovery. While periodic backup
rotations might send tapes or disks offsite, enabling restoration of isolated files, databases
and servers after corruption or failure, it falls far short of efficient full site recovery.
DR is not just about the data; it is about the systems, settings and infrastructure which
businesses operate on.
How Disaster Recovery via the Cloud works

2. Gone are the days when businesses have to invest in a second set of equipment, facility
upkeep or staff to maintain a standby system.
DR as a Service via the Cloud continuously replicates data between the office and a
geographically separate data centre. Operating on a ‘pay as you go’ basis, businesses only
pay for a small share of resources to replicate data. In the event of an outage, additional
resources required to actually run your site are activated, and then downgraded once the
business is back up and running.
The ongoing upkeep and maintenance is also taken care of by the managed cloud
provider, and test restores should be performed every six months to ensure seamless
recovery with no important data missed.
No organisation should be without a ‘Plan B’ – and these innovations in Cloud
technology mean preparing for any scenario has never been more affordable. Ask
yourself how your business would cope with an extended IT outage, or if you couldn’t
access your building for days, weeks or months? While these questions may be tough,
they need honest answers to ensure your organisation is prepared.