Imagine a major retailer with millions of customers loses its entire database overnight due to a cyber attack. But thanks to a well thought out disaster recovery plan that included outsourced backup services they were back in business within hours with minimal data loss and disruption. This is not just a hypothetical scenario, companies that invest in disaster recovery planning are better prepared to bounce back from the unexpected.

What is disaster recovery planning?

Disaster recovery planning is the process of creating a structured approach to respond to unplanned incidents that impact an organization’s IT infrastructure, such as cyber attacks, natural disasters or hardware failures. It’s critical to business continuity and minimizing downtime and data loss. Let’s look at practical ways to help businesses protect themselves against disaster.

Why is it important?

Without a disaster recovery plan you’re at risk of:

• Data Loss: Losing critical business data forever.
• Downtime: Prolonged periods of inactivity will cost you big time. For example, A 2019 Ponemon Institute Report says the average cost of IT downtime is over $9,000 per minute, it could be more in the present day.
• Financial Loss: Beyond the immediate costs, long term financial impacts include loss of revenue, customer trust and potential regulatory fines.

How Data Backup Can Help in Disaster Recovery

Backups are critical to data integrity and availability so you always have the latest data protected and recoverable.

Types of Backups

• Full Backup: All data.
• Incremental Backup: Only data that has changed since last backup.
• Differential Backup: All data that has changed since the last full backup.

Challenges of In-House Backups

• Cost: High upfront and ongoing costs.
• Complexity: Requires skilled staff.
• Resource Allocation: Ties up resources from core business activities.

What are the Benefits of Outsourcing Backup Resources

You can outsource your backup and here’s why:

• Low Cost: No big upfront investment in hardware and software and lower operational costs for maintenance and staffing.
• Expertise and Technology: You get access to the latest technology and experts to get your data protected and recovered.
• Scalability: Outsourced solutions at a different location who can scale with your business growth, no need to change infrastructure for increased data.
• Security and Compliance: Extra security and compliance to get your data protected and compliant.

What To Consider When Selecting the Right Outsourced Backup Provider

• Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Get clear on recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO).
• Center Locations: Choose geographically diverse centers to mitigate regional risks.
• Vendor Reputation: Check vendor reliability, customer reviews and industry certifications.

Also make sure the backup solution is tailored to your business needs, data volume, critical applications and regulatory requirements.

Best Practices for Disaster Recovery with Outsourced Backup

• Keep disaster recovery plans and backup strategies up-to-date to change with business needs and new threats.
• Train staff on disaster recovery procedures and what to do in the event of an incident.
• Monitor backup processes and improve as needed to make it more reliable and efficient.

Disaster recovery planning is key to business continuity and outsourcing staff backup has many benefits, cost, expertise, scalability and security. Review your current disaster recovery plan and consider global outsourcing your backup solution to be ready for any disaster. If you are exploring bookkeeping outsourcing services, do check out www.igsbookkeeping.com for more information.