It shouldn’t surprise anyone that data protection is only a small but integral part of disaster recovery. Besides being prepared with back up data, you also need a complete business continuity plan. Business continuity plans should include disaster recovery as a core element. This means that you need some key components to manage your data in case of a disaster. There are some questions you need to ask before implementation, during and after implementation of a business continuity plan. These are:
- Secondary Sites-How secure is the secondary site? Will you be able to access data from the secondary site? What protocols are in place now to transfer and store data to the secondary site?
- Equipment and storage-How is the data protected? Will you be able to utilize the equipment and restore operations quickly after a disaster? What processes are in place now for storage of equipment?
- Accessibility and Alternatives-How will data be accessible during and after a crisis? Is there more than one alternative for accessing data? Are they cloud based or through remote servers?
Business continuity is more than disaster recovery. It’s asking the questions around labor, buildings and accessibility that make a good business continuity plan. Data protection shouldn’t just be thought about as part of a disaster recovery process. It should be implemented on a daily basis as a way to ensure your customers’ data remains safe. Jarrett Potts, director of strategic marketing for STORserver, makes some interesting points in his article, “Disaster Recovery Is Not Business Continuity.” He points out that there are two different concepts between disaster recovery and business continuity.
Data protection is an integral part of any disaster recovery process.Being prepared to have constant and continued access to your data is one of the “sticking points” in regards to a robust business continuity plan. You need to know that your data won’t be lost should a disaster happen. You also need to know that your data will be protected from any breaches.
Net Integrations states that “Setting a good environment to save your data remotely is a smart and prudent idea. It should also be a part of your business continuity plan. Protecting your customers’ data needs to be one of your top priorities.”
Good continuity plan takes into considered the many aspects of disaster recovery, not just data protection. This being said there are 12 ways to disaster proof your critical business data according to an article by Jennifer Lonoff Schiff. Her article takes in consideration that making sure your mission critical applications are accessible during and after a crisis is just as important as protecting your data.
