SMB Disaster Recovery: Plan Now or Pay Later

by Michael Krutikov

SMBs havebeen hearing for years about the need to have a disaster recovery(DR) plan. But this advice largely falls on deaf ears. An alarming number ofSMBs, 74 percent, have no plan in place to deal with a disaster that couldpotentially cost them their livelihoods. But where to start? Many SMBs areunaware as to what precisely goes into their disaster recovery plan.Essentially, it’s a matter of understanding where your company is now, whereyou need to be, and what steps are required to bridge the gap. If that seemsoverwhelming, creating a plan can be broken down into a few simple steps.

Understanding What You Have and What YouNeed
First,consider the current state of your business. Take an inventory of your currentresources, beginning with hardware – not just desktop computers, but servers,printers, mobile devices and other devices. Next, assess all the software youare using, especially business-critical applications and databases that allowbasic operations for the business to continue uninterrupted. It’s especiallyimportant to note any systems or programs that would be difficult or impossibleto replace, such as custom-built applications. You should also consider theminimal staff necessary to keep things running until you’re back up and runningbusiness as usual.

With thislist, you can begin to determine what must be restored first in case of a disaster,and continue in order of importance. It is also helpful to specify what risksare likely for your business, considering factors such as geographic locationand what natural disasters are most likely to occur, as well as your industryand risks of attack by cyber criminals. One additional advantage to thisassessment is that you may find ways to improve your current operationalefficiency.

Create a Specific Plan
Once you’veassessed your company’s current status, you are ready to determine what has tobe done, and when it needs to be done, to complete your plan. Within the first threemonths, you should solicit support from each area of your company, andestablish a budget for specific action items creating a well-defined disasterrecovery plan. This phase will include steps such as providing for immediatefile restoration and dealing with compromised devices. The following threemonths will see you meeting goals for recovery times, such as how soon certainapplications need to be made available again. The last six months should bespent preparing for longer-term disasters, such as the physical destruction ofyour facility in the event of a fire or earthquake, allowing completerestoration of business processes from a secondary site for as long as necessary.

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