While some businesses never prepare for possible disasters, those that do may make costly disaster recovery planning mistakes that render their plans useless.
However, with a reliable plan in place, 96% of businesses are able to recover quickly from common disasters like ransomware attacks. Unsurprisingly, 90% of businesses without one or with a plan filled with mistakes end up shutting down.
1. Never Testing Your Plan
Never testing your plan is one of the worst disaster recovery planning mistakes your business can make. Your plan is just like any type of product. What looks good on paper might not work out in practice. It must be tested to check for potential flaws before finalizing it. Test your plan not just once, but at least yearly to ensure it works as planned.
2. Relying On Single And/Or Infrequent Backups
Backups are a vital part of any disaster recovery plan, but it’s a mistake to rely on just one backup. Most businesses don’t back up their to just one source. For instance, client data and employee data may be stored separately and backed up to different sources. Your plan must account for every place your data is stored.
Of course, a single backup means a single point of a failure. If your backup doesn’t work or you don’t back up your data frequently enough, it’s just as bad as not having a backup at all.
3. Forgetting To Update As Systems Change
Most businesses change their technology over time. You probably don’t use the same devices as you did five years ago or the same software. However, one of the most common disaster recovery planning mistakes is not updating the plan as your systems change. Whenever you make major changes, it’s time to re-evaluate your plan.
4. Not Preparing For All Types Of Disasters
Does your plan account for all types of disasters? Many only plan for one or two types. For instance, you may be ready for a cyber attack, but what about a flood? What about a major hardware failure, such as your UPS or a server? Fully evaluate all your risks and ensure your disaster recovery plan covers them all.
5. Not Properly Communicating The Plan
It’s not uncommon for only IT to know about the plan. While this is one of the more common disaster recovery planning mistakes, it doesn’t have to be. To avoid panic among your employees and shareholders, IT should communicate the plan to everyone, at least the basics of what to expect. Knowing a timeline and which systems should come online first reduces panic and makes the process go more smoothly.
Contact DevSoft
Need help preparing for a disaster or recovering after all? Call us at 888-405-0029 or send us a message to learn more.
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