Over my many years of IT service, I’ve heard a lot of stories about organizations that went south because of computer system failures. Some examples include computer crashes, disk drive failures, software errors, bad software upgrades, natural disasters that affected computer room operations, power outages, and other disruptive events. There is one thing about each of these stories that is a critical plot twist: a disaster recovery plan.
No matter the size of the company, you’re data is important and should be protected with a disaster recovery plan. Now is the time to listen up if you don’t have one. What is disaster recovery, or DRP? A DRP is a series of policies and procedures that, when allowed, will allow you to return your computers and data to a state where you can pick up and open your business. There is an article I found online that discusses the topic in more detail; https://www.techtarget.com/searchdisasterrecovery/definition/disaster-recovery-plan. This can be as simple or as complex as needed. The most simple is to just back up or copy your data to a thumb drive. Make sure to take the thumb drive out of your work area. More complex DR plans contain all sorts of automation, outside services, third parties, and such. Each plan is customized to the given organization’s requirements.
Make sure you protect your data by making it recoverable. The costs of protecting your data are far less than rebuilding your organization.