Many business owners don’t understand the potential devastation and high cost of unforeseen IT disasters until it is too late, which can significantly hinder financial stability and growth. However, by incorporating disaster recovery and preparedness plans early on, businesses will be better positioned to avoid long-term outages and remain resilient in the face of adversity.
A StorageCraft infographic (below) recently illustrated the high costs of IT disasters, and worked under the assertion that data is the lifeblood of any organization. This long-held belief has become even more intense given the rapid migration of information into the digital landscape.
More Than 37% Of Disasters Involve A Criminal Or Malicious Attack
According to the infographic, more than 37 percent of disasters will involve a criminal or malicious attack, which shows the importance of cohesion among data security and recovery policies. Decision-makers need to ensure that they are considering all potential vulnerabilities and risks, including server, network or service provider failures, natural disasters, computer security breaches and power outages.
The damages that come with disasters that were not prepared for are significant. Roughly 31 percent of personal computer users have lost the entirety of their files and data as the result of unforeseen events.
Once the plan is in place, this does not mean the battle has necessarily ended. Instead, businesses need to keep up with evaluations and testing to maintain relevance and effectiveness. More than one-third of businesses fail to test their backups, while 77 percent of those that do regularly evaluate the tapes find failures.
Businesses Pay An Average Of $136 For Each Lost Record
The average cost of one compromised or lost record was $136 in 2012, and only continues to rise. For these reasons and more, businesses need to proactively create and regularly maintain their disaster recovery, preparedness and management policies.