These days most companies secure their data by regularly backing it up onto tape and storing it externally either at the owners place of residence or in a safety deposit box at the bank. They follow a DIY IT disaster recovery plan to preserve their data in the event that a system failure or interruption occurs during day to day operations. A back up and recovery plan allows them to minimize data loss and interruption to customers. Some companies however, have taken this IT contingency planning one step further, by enhancing their backup and recovery strategy using expensive disk arrays and mirroring. Some companies feel that by implementing more comprehensive and advanced IT disaster recovery software at the problem they can still manage the processes in house and it will work out just as effective, but still works out more cost effective than engaging external IT disaster recovery vendors. But at the end of the day, no matter how you look at it; whether it is an earthquake, a flood, a blackout or a hard disk failure that gets you, IT disaster recovery services are always helpful there is simply no doubt about it. Add to this the risk that the data loss might be as a result of human or software error (which studies show, account for approximately 40% of all IT related disasters), then all your IT Officer needs to do is grab the most recent back up and restore the system. Fingers crossed this would do the trick. While you cant rely on IT contingency planning for everything, you have to hope that the IT disaster recovery solution you put in place will get you most of the way there. If your IT infrastructure fails, you do need to know that sometimes your IT disaster recovery management tools may prove insufficient, for example, the back up does not complete, the back up tape you have does not include the most recent data or the tapes are unable to accessed when required. What ever the reason, things can and do, go wrong with every DIY back up system. So, by conducting and indeed relying on traditional tape or disk backups that are processed in house, you need to understand that you could well be placing your business in jeopardy. If nothing else, do your homework and ensure that any IT disaster recovery plan you implement, provides you with the greatest level of security possible. If in doubt talk to some local IT disaster recovery vendors and see what IT disaster recovery solution they would recommend for your business. |
