Business Continuity: FAQs
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Isn’t a backup tape with my data enough to protect my business from a disaster? No. Industry sources have reported that up to 50% of tape backups do not successfully restore critical data. Other issues include the amount of time required to restore data; missing data because bigger hard drives were installed, but a matching tape drive was not purchased; cost of tapes; and the cost of labor to manage the backup process, including the transportation to and from an off-site storage facility. If you have to restore your business after a disaster, you will still need to acquire replacement hardware, PC’s, and your application programs. Then you will have to rebuild your IT capabilities before you start reloading your backed-up data, which can take many hours/days/weeks, assuming it works. Off-site data storage can be performed across the Internet. Utilizing a broadband (cable, DSL, or T1) high speed connection, critical data can be sent to a remote location, or to a remote backup service. What are the benefits of on-line data backup? On-line backup can eliminate tapes, or supplement a tape backup strategy by providing automatic remote data backup for disaster recovery. On-line backup can cost less that tapes and the labor required to manage the process, is dynamic, and can be increased simply by paying more to the service. If you install larger hard drives, you don’t have to purchase a larger tape drive and new tapes. What are the disadvantages of on-line data backup? On-line backup is very slow. You could go out of business while restoring your data. Using speed estimates available from on-line services, you can estimate that backing up all of your critical data can take days for the first complete backup. (Incremental backups of changed data will take less time.) If you have to restore all of your critical data across an Internet connection, it can take 2 – 20 days to recover everything. For an additional charge some services will copy your data to a hard drive and ship it to you. (Do you want to risk your critical data to a shipping company, which may not be able to reach you during a disaster?) If you have to restore your business after a disaster, you will still need to acquire replacement hardware, PC’s, and your application programs. Then you will have to rebuild your IT capabilities before you start reloading your backed-up data. Businesses are storing more data than as they depend more on technology. Government regulations and court rulings are requiring more data archiving. While on-line data backup sounds like a logical solution, it can be more risky than a tape strategy. What is the difference between On-line Data Backup and Managed Restore? On-line Data Backup is data only, no programs or server setups. Managed Restore is the remote backup of critical data, server set-ups, and application programs. With On-line Data Backup, after a disaster you must rebuild your IT capability, including servers, PC’s, and programs, then reload all your data. Managed Restore is a complete Business Continuity solution, including secure off-site data storage (in multiple locations—Las Vegas and Simi Valley, CA) and the ability to be securely up and running from any PC with an Internet connection. How long will it take to recover my business with On-line Data Backup? If you have between 40GB – 200GB of data, it will take between 4 and 20 days to recover your data, after you have purchased new servers and PC’s, and restored your programs.
We’ve never had a disaster. Why shouldn’t we just take our chances? “50% of all small and mid-size businesses will go out of business within three years if they can’t get back their data in 24 hours.” (Gartner) You have an obligation to your shareholders, employees, and customers, to take all reasonable steps to protect the life of your business. Managed Restore is an affordable and reliable solution to many risks to your IT environment. Government regulations, court decisions, and even companies with whom you want to do business, may all require that you have a Business Continuity plan.They won’t wait for a disaster. As much as 80% of your business’s assets are data! How will we know our Information Technology environment can be restored? We offer testing to ensure that your IT environment, including your servers, programs, and data can be restored, before disaster strikes. You will be involved in the testing process, to validate that your programs are working properly from our facility. We have an IT department. Can’t they do everything we need? Many IT departments are not familiar with the complex processes required to restore an IT environment after a disaster. IT Directors tell us that their company’s IT capabilities could not be restored if the IT staff was not available. 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina are two recent events where businesses had to get up and running without their IT staffs. With Managed Restore our rescue teams are standing by (in two states) to restore your environment during and immediately after a disaster. Disaster Recovery is the long-term ability to restore your entire business to its pre-disaster capabilities. Business Continuity is the short term ability to run your critical business functions during and immediately after a disaster. What’s the difference between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity? Business Continuity focuses on keeping your business functioning while you address the many tasks required for Disaster Recovery. We haven’t worried about this in the past. Why now? Recent events, including disasters and government regulations, combined with the low cost availability of high speed Internet connections, server virtualization, and robust remote computing tools, have made Managed Restore an affordable solution to protecting the life of your business. Why do I need both Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plans? Even small businesses rely on phones and computers to communicate with employees, customers, and vendors. If you aren’t prepared for a disaster, it is likely that you will not be able to respond to their needs in a timely manner to ensure the survivability of your business. Is Business Continuity required for my industry? Healthcare, financial organizations and public companies are required to develop Business Continuity plans. HIPAA, GLBA, and Sarbanes-Oxley also require data protection and quick access to data during and after a disaster. Is Business Continuity plan worth the effort and the cost? Costs are lower than ever, and experts are available to help you. Business Continuity planning goes far beyond your technology needs. Personnel, phones, office supplies, insurance, and many other topics are reviewed during the planning process. A plan customized for your business by a certified professional can address issues not considered in do-it-yourself planning tools. If you want to do your own planning, there are several websites providing templates and other tools to develop a rudimentary plan. How do I know our plan will work? The only way to know a plan will work is to test it regularly prior to a disaster. Testing will validate that your systems work, your documentation is correct, and identify weaknesses that should be addressed before a real disaster strikes. Where can I get more information about Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery?
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