4 Reasons CEOs Prioritize Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

As more companies shift to remote work, business leaders have new IT priorities to contend with. They want to ensure home computing environments are secure, content is accessible to mobile employees, and their teams remain connected and productive. But perhaps the greatest challenge, and priority, is maintaining business continuity. Remote workforces are gaining increased attention from cybercriminals, and a mix of rapidly deployed company and personal devices leave corporate networks vulnerable to data theft, loss, or corruption. To mitigate these threats, more business leaders are focusing on their business continuity and disaster recovery planning and adapting existing policies to meet emerging needs.  

Here Are 4 Critical Reasons Why CEOs Are Prioritizing Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery:

1. Network Downtime Is Expensive

If your employees or customers lose access to business-critical applications and data, there will be a direct impact on productivity and revenue. Let’s say your business has 100 employees, the average hourly revenue is $1,500 and the backup data set amounts to 2 TB. Given these parameters, a full restore from a local backup would take over 8 hours. The associated downtime cost would amount to $34,000 in lost revenue. Modern BCDR products offer the ability to run applications from backup instances of virtual servers. This allows users to continue operations while primary application servers are restored.

2. Data Backup Isn't Sufficient on its Own

You’d be hard-pressed to find a business today that doesn’t conduct some form of data backup. But what happens if your primary servers are irrevocably damaged? That's why it's essential to send copies of business data offsite. Modern BCDR products can run applications from backup instances of virtual servers, and some can extend this capability to the cloud. This approach is frequently called cloud DR or disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS). The ability to run applications in the cloud while onsite infrastructure is restored is widely considered to be a game-changer for disaster recovery. Backup and business continuity are not the same - and your business needs both.

3. Data Disasters Take Many Forms

Most IT downtime is a result of common, everyday actions like accidental (or intentional) data deletion, damage to computer hardware, and poor security habits. For example, a recent OWI Labs survey found that 81% of respondents occasionally or regularly log into public wifi, in spite of security risks. A ransomware attack or virus can halt operations just as easily as a natural disaster. These are typically the result of human error, but are preventable with BCDR planning and ongoing employee training. 

4. Business Continuity Impacts Everyone

Ensuring access to applications and data following a disaster is just one piece of a successful BCDR strategy. Thorough BCDR planning should assess your business as a whole, and many planning efforts begin with an impact analysis or risk assessment. These studies can reveal weaknesses in your business's ability to continue operations. BCDR is a company-wide responsibility, and failure to protect your business from human error and system failures can be detrimental. Fortunately, by working with a skilled Managed Services Provider (MSP), you can avoid the fallout of poor BCDR planning. If you're looking for more information about BCDR strategies, or are interested in a risk assessment, reach out to iCorps for a free consultation.