As with most things in life, it?s easy to procrastinate, especially when it comes to preparing against?unforeseen?circumstances. ?According to Symantec?s 2011 Small Business Disaster Preparedness Survey, this is precisely the case with small business owners and their computers, technology systems and data. ?Symantec surveyed 1,288 small businesses and 552 customers of small businesses from 23 countries worldwide and found that 57% of the small businesses surveyed did not have a plan in place in case of disaster. ?Alarmingly, 52% of respondents didn?t think computer systems are critical to their business even though 65 percent of small businesses reside in regions that they consider?susceptible?to natural disasters.
While some small businesses are born out of disasters, what is the effect of a hurricane, flood, fire, cyber attack, power outage or even spilled coffee on existing SMBs? ?Predictably, the repercussions of not having a disaster recovery plan in place can be costly. ?An average SMB experienced a median of 6 outages per year at a cost of $12,500 per day. ?$75,000 is a chunk of change, but it gets worse. ?While the businesses are scrambling to assess and fix their own damage, their customers are affected financially at a cost of $10,000 per day. ?Out of frustration, 54% of customers have switched SMB vendors due to data loss and unreliable computer systems.
The good news is that much of the data loss, cost of outages and loss of customers can be avoided with careful planning. ?Symantec offers?5 Steps You Must Take to Protect Your Small Business Data from Disaster:
1) Don?t wait until it?s too late.
We?re all guilt of being lazy and procrastinating, but that?s precisely the point of disasters. ?They come out of nowhere. ?Didn?t expect that cup of coffee to spill and short-circuit your computer, did you? ?How about that heavy rainstorm that caused a flash flood in your first floor office or that fire in the server room after the AC broke down? ?Create a plan ahead of time, so that you?re ready when disaster strikes.
2) Protect information completely.
Create a backup of everything in multiple formats including: external hard drive, company network, off-site location and using cloud-based storage options. ?Additionally, protect against cyber attacks with real-time monitoring and?up-to-date security software.
3) Get employees involved.
Best practices are key to a streamlined process of data recovery. ?Train all employees on what to do when they accidentally delete an important file or some other disaster strikes.
4) Test frequently.
Remember the fire and tornado drills you used to practice in school? ?The same principle applies to disaster preparedness and recover testing. ?Practice makes perfect, so test everything repeatedly to make sure your safeguards are working properly.
5) Review your plan.
Review your disaster preparedness and recovery plan every quarter to make sure it is up-to-date and the plan is top of mind.
Download the Symantec 2011 SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey?(PDF) >>
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What steps have you taken to protect against the loss of your small business data from disaster? ?If you haven?t, what is holding you back?
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