Research shows that most SMBs have no disaster recovery plans

Just over a week ago, Freeform Dynamics published research suggesting that across Europe 58% of small companies and 20% of medium-sized companies do not have a formal disaster recovery plan. At the time Infosecurity Magazine approached us for our view on these statistics – and you can find the resulting story here.

It is indeed a worrying scenario. Business continuity and disaster recovery facilities are no longer a luxury; they are an absolute necessity for all modern businesses. Business is conducted online. Business intelligence is held online. Sales and pitches are made online. And loss of those facilities, for even a short period, can be severely damaging if not fatal to maintaining the business itself.

According to the research, a lack of familiarity with new DR technologies and concern over potential costs are the main inhibitors. SMBs often accept that they need to improve their DR stance, but are worried about concepts such as server and storage virtualisation, disk mirroring and load balancing. But none of this need be a worry, particularly when combined with a colocated data centre and the technical expertise of the provider.

The combined savings from data centre colocation and server virtualisation (from lower floor space costs, reduced energy costs, and less hardware and maintenance costs and so on) amply offset any additional cost from an effective business continuity and disaster recovery plan. Storage virtualisation, for example, doesn’t merely create storage savings and make storage management easier and more effective, it paves the way for almost instantaneous disaster recovery.

When all of this is delivered by a proactive provider, all difficulties in setting up and operating the DR plan can be handled and solved by professional experts. So our message is simple: failure to instigate adequate business continuity and disaster recovery plans isn’t necessary. It is easier and cheaper than many SMBs realise – simply by coming to the right provider.

Written by: Brian