Data Disasters

 

Rank each component according to its current relevance and importance to business processes, Price recommends. For instance, ask "Could my company function without access to this particular data?" Obviously, if the answer is no, that information gets the highest rating. Critical financial documents, competitive data, and confidential customer records should also receive top-priority status, as should anything you're required to keep by law. In contrast, promotional materials, historical sales data, and materials from past projects and initiatives probably deserve lower ratings.

Focus on the top-ranked data first. Back it up constantly -- preferably several times daily in at least two locations -- and choose storage methods that let you quickly find and retrieve what you need in a crisis.

Calculate the costs of recreating critical information -- and, if applicable, the potential damage from data that's permanently lost. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends examining both temporary and permanent replacement costs. The numbers may be frightening, but they provide a good gauge for determining the potential ROI on your storage and data-recovery solutions.

Choose a remote site that's far enough from your primary location that it's unlikely to be affected by the same disaster, but close enough so you can get there in a hurry. For instance, one Inc. 500 CEO set up a disaster-recovery center in an outbuilding near his vacation home, about 45 miles from the high-tech company's headquarters; he already knows how to reach that site by either the main highway or the back roads. Tip: For the best chance of quick recovery, select sites or providers beyond your company's own power grid.

Update the plan constantly to account for personnel changes, process improvements, increasing amounts of data, emerging technologies, and, sadly, any new threats.

Sidebar: Resources

Following are some resources for learning more about business continuity and disaster recovery:

WEB SITES

American Red Cross
Resources to help businesses prepare for and respond to disasters
Institute for Business & Home Safety
Resources to help SMBs prepare for and respond to disasters
Open for Business: Disaster Planning Toolkit for the Small Business Owner (free 39-page PDF document developed with U.S. Small Business Administration)
The Hartford Financial Services Group , Small Business Insurance Center
Free online template for a building a disaster-response plan
The Small Business Administration
Disaster-preparedness and recovery information

VENDOR WHITE PAPERS

CYA Technologies Inc. (several selections)
Business Continuity Doesn't Have to Break the Bank, by NSI Software (registration required)
Guaranteed Backup for Small and Medium Businesses, by Live Vault (registration required)
Six Tips Small and Medium Businesses Can Use to Protect Their Critical Data, by NSI Software (registration required)

BOOKS

Avoiding Disaster: How to Keep Your Business Going When Catastrophe Strikes, by John Laye (John Wiley & Sons, 2002).

The Backup Book: Disaster Recovery from Data Center to Desktop, edited by Dorian Cougias, E.L. Heiberger, and Karstan Koop (Schaser-Vartan Books, 2003)

Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: A Small Business Guide, by Donna R. Childs and Stefan Dietrich (John Wiley & Sons, 2002)

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