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5 Reasons You Need a Backup and Disaster Recovery Partner
In 1949, Captain Edward A. Murphy was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. He was an engineer, working to understand the impact of sudden deceleration on pilots and passengers involved in a crash. The nature of the project required a high level of attention to detail.
However, people are people, and mistakes were sometimes made. At one point, Murphy came across some poorly done wiring. Frustrated with the technician responsible for it, he proclaimed, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he’ll find it.”
The project manager overseeing Murphy’s work wrote it down.
After the successful completion one of the project’s tests, Dr. John Paul Stapp, an Air Force doctor, held a press conference. As he described the team’s philosophy to reporters, he referenced what he and others had come to call Murphy’s Law. “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
Now common knowledge, you’re probably familiar with Murphy’s Law – both the saying and the reality of it. As a business owner, you’ve no doubt encountered your fair share of roadblocks. No matter how well thought out your plans, there’s always something you didn’t expect.
That’s why it’s so important to plan for the unexpected. You need a backup and disaster recovery plan. And in this whitepaper, we’ll go one step further. You need a backup and disaster recovery partner to help ensure your BDR plan is as foolproof as possible.
Here are our top five reasons for enlisting the help of a backup and disaster recovery partner.
1. Something will go wrong.
First, the obvious one. Something is going to go wrong. Period.
No one likes to think about disaster. Frankly, it’s an unpleasant thought. The very idea that all your hard work could be undone in a single, horrible moment is unsettling. Talk about a nightmare.
But statistically speaking, you’re more likely to encounter a problem than not.
54% of companies have experienced eight or more hours of downtime due to an unexpected incident. That may not sound like much, until you consider the cost of losing an entire day of work. (More on that in a bit.)
The majority of downtime is caused by power outages (75%) and hardware error (52%). But human error (35%), cyber attacks (34%) and natural disasters (20%) are all legitimate concerns, too. Cybersecurity is an increasingly hot topic, with some reports estimating there’s a 26% chance your business will experience an attack within the next two years.
If you haven’t had to deal with downtime yet, knock on wood. And get ready. It’s practically inevitable that you will.
2. The worst disaster.
Three out of four small businesses have no disaster recovery plan. Does that stat scare you? It scares us.
The very worst kind of disaster is the one you aren’t prepared for.
That said, we get it. Most small business owners have gotten to a place of success through hard work and tenacity. You’re accustomed to relying on your ability to adapt. If disaster strikes, that’s just one more time you’ll have to roll with the punches, right? You’ve done that hundreds of times before.
However, this is different in two ways. First, disaster recovery gets more expensive the longer it takes. (We promise, we’ll flesh that out in a bit.) Second, this is something you can plan for. Why fly blind? Why not take preventative steps so you’re ready before anything goes wrong?
3. Downtime is expensive.
As promised, let’s discuss the actual cost of downtime.
$8,600 per hour. That’s the average cost of downtime for small businesses. And, believe it or not, that estimate is on the low end. Other estimates range from $20,000 up to $100,000. Per hour.
And that’s just the money. Consider the impact on your business, too.
When your network is down, you can’t work. You can’t serve your customers. Your communication with your own staff is limited. It all takes a toll.
People are impacted. Relationships suffer.
You want your customers to know they can rely on you, no matter what. If you can come through for them, even when you’re dealing with a disaster, that’s a major win. While no one wants a disaster, disaster recovery can provide you with an opportunity to shine.
If you have a plan.
4. Cost of ownership.
So far, we’ve focused primarily on the advantages of disaster recovery in general. It’s time to dive a little deeper. After all, this whitepaper is about why you need a disaster recovery partner. So, why do you need one?
The cost of ownership for DIY disaster recovery is high. Bare minimum, you’ll need backup software, off-site storage and failover hardware. It’s entirely feasible to piecemeal these basic components on your own. But ensuring that it all works together seamlessly is a whole other issue.
And, like the cost of downtime, ownership isn’t just about the monetary expense. Developing a disaster recovery strategy takes time. Putting all the pieces together takes time. Testing the systems to make sure it will work when you need it takes time.
Can you do it on your own? Sure. But you’re likely to spend more time and money than you would if you paired up with a disaster recovery partner. Oh, and there’s one other thing.
5. Stick to what you know..
You’re not a disaster recovery expert. You’re an expert in other things. That’s why you have a successful business. Clearly, you have the ability to excel. But that doesn’t mean you’ll put together a good disaster recovery plan on your own.
As a matter of practicality, it just makes sense to work with a disaster recovery partner.
Disaster recovery is a complex, nuanced area of specialization. When it’s done well, it pays big dividends. It can literally be the thing that makes or breaks your business. After all, more than one-third of small businesses close permanently in the wake of a disaster.
When you enlist the help of a disaster recovery expert, you free yourself to focus on what you know, and you get top-notch help with a critical area of protection. It’s a best case scenario, which is what you want when considering the possibility of disaster.
KME knows BDR.
The KME team knows how to create a thorough disaster recovery plan. We’ll take your business needs into account and develop a strategy that keeps your company from becoming another statistic.
If you’re ready to get serious about disaster recovery, give us a call.
“More than one-third of small businesses close permanently in the wake of a disaster”
