Tech Tip #6 – Could Your Business Survive a Disaster?

Gartner Inc. research found that 93% of organizations that have experienced a significant data loss are out of business within five years . This article provides you some basic information that will help you to get started or review your current disaster plan and be one of the 7% that recover and move forward.

Executive Summary

Disaster planning is a complex process and you should know the strengths and weaknesses of your current plan to decide if you want to change it to better mitigate the risks your business faces from potential disasters. Every business needs to have a disaster or business continuity plan.

Building a Disaster Plan Disasters come in many forms from hard drive failure and accidental file deletion to fire, earthquake, hurricane and tornados . To develop a successful disaster plan, you need consider all relative scenarios and identify the business systems and information that are most critical to keep your business running. This article focussed on the information systems side of the disaster planning, but you should also have logistical plans as well such as a disaster meeting place, communication plans and key contact information (employees, vendors, customers, etc.) Identifying the Critical Information Your information systems may include employee contact information, customer lists, sales information, product information, financial data and customer support information. Identifying each type of information and documenting its location is the first step to a strong plan. Types of Information There are many different types of data and each has its own backup requirements. Document files such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint require a simple file backup system whereas SQL Server, SharePoint, Exchange and other database systems require a more complex backup system. Where, When, How Once you have defined the data, its location and its type, you must decide where, how and how often you will backup the data. You must also determine if you need to have multiple backup copies and what the retention policy will be. If you want to be prepared for a fire or tornado, then an onsite backup plan is not going to be very effective. Many companies choose multiple backup strategies to mitigate different disaster types. You can choose removable media backups such as tape or removable drives. Tapes have a history of being unreliable due to many factors and are being phased out as the backup media of choice. Offsite and disk to disk backups are quickly becoming the most popular due to the speed and cost reductions that have occurred recently. Recovery Time One factor that is often overlooked is the server recovery time that occurs in a failure. While backups are critical, they don't mean that a server can be recovered quickly. Servers typically have to have the operating system loaded or reloaded to recover from a disk failure or if new hardware must be purchased along with the software products that are required to implement the software systems that are in use. This can take one to two days to accomplish. Another factor is the hardware replacement. If you loose a hardware due to fire or other disaster, you will have to procure new server hardware and load the software to get back up and running. There are ways to work around these problems, but they all require financial outlays. Summary As you can see, disaster planning is complex and challenging but a critical task for businesses that want to be able to survive a disaster. Just Biz - Technology Services can help you analyze your information and help you design and implement an appropriate disaster plan that fits your risk tolerance and budget.

Computer Purchases

Just Biz Technology Services is a volume reseller for Dell computers and because of this volume, we can usually get you a better price than what you will find posted on the Dell website.

Please do not purchase a computer without asking for our free recommendation. We often see businesses "get a great deal" on a computer from a local retail outlet but do not order the proper hardware or software configuration for their needs. They end up spending more money on the software than if they purchased OEM software (which is generally priced significantly less than retail) with the system purchase and have to pay more money to have us upgrade the system.

Similarly, buying a computer with too little memory can be costly as well. If you get a computer with 512MB of RAM and you later realize you need to upgrade to 1GB, if you have two 256MB sticks and only two slots for the sticks, then you have to remove the existing memory and buy two 512MB memory sticks. We recommend at least 1 GB of memory. Depending on the applications you use, you may be able to get by with 512MB on XP, however, don't forget about Windows Vista coming within the next 3 months. This new Microsoft operating system will take even more memory as well as enhanced graphics power.

Today's memory (both DDR and DDR2) works best in matched pairs. “Matched” means that they have the same speed and size, ideally the exact same stick.

Just Biz – Technology Services

If you are not using our services, make Just Biz – Technology Services your IT department. We provide networking (wired or wireless), computer administration, computer sales, installation, backup support, software consulting and WEB design.

We are an authorized reseller for Dell, Microsoft, SonicWALL, NetGear, TrendMicro, Symantec and other products and services.

Call us today for a free technology assessment!

Just Biz - Technology Services
(407) 370-6973
http://www.justbiz.biz
Just ( adj ) - Honorable and fair in one's dealings and actions.

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