Why it matters: Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR)
- May 16, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 28, 2021
Remember when you were working on a document and suddenly, the computer crashed. It could be due to a multitude of reasons – the power supply may be cut off, a glitch in the Operating System or the internal hard disk storing your computer’s information became corrupted, etc.
One thing for certain is that the information in that document is now lost because of an unpredictable event.
Now, imagine that you represent a Business and the document that you were working on was a Product or Service meant for your Clients. Instead of just a computer crashing this time, your entire File Server goes offline because of an office fire. Not only did you lose your Clients’ important data (which took many years to gather), you are now rendered incapable of continuing Business Operations. Other than the financial cost of covering the damages (replacing a File Server in this case) and the cost of resources needed to gather back years of Clients’ data, there is the opportunity cost of lost revenue during the time that you are not Operational.
In summary, not having a concrete contingency plan to recover important Business Data and Core Business Services to keep it Operational in the event of a Disaster is bad for any Business. Therefore, we believe that every Business should have a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) Plan.
What is a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan?
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) are Processes that help Businesses to operate as close to normal as possible after an unexpected interruption with minimal loss of data. A Disaster-Recovery solution is often an important part in a Business Continuity Plan. Read more here.
Why should Businesses care about BCDR?
A crippling Disaster for a Business may occur unexpectedly due to a wide range of possible reasons. Other than Natural Disasters and power failures, with Cyberthreats on the rise, any Business can become a victim of Cybercrime. In addition, mistakes can happen at work due to Human Error which can lead to severe Business-crippling Consequences.
The cost of unplanned system downtime averaged around $463,000 for Singapore companies, with 45 per cent having experienced unplanned system downtime in the last 12 months. https://www.straitstimes.com/business/data-loss-cost-spore-companies-19m-over-12-months-report
Is BCDR only relevant for Big Businesses / MNCs?
It is actually more relevant for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) since MNCs would mostly have the luxury of extra capital and resources to invest significantly in a concrete contingency plan.
On the other hand, SMEs may underestimate the probability of a Business-crippling Disaster affecting them. Coupled with the fact that SMEs are in a comparably tighter financial situation, they may decide to neglect BCDR to cut costs.
Along with that, the effect of a crippling Disaster on a SME is far more pronounced than that on an MNC. SMEs tend to store most of their data in vulnerable places such as in their own local drive or an on-premise File Server as it is convenient and the amount of data being stored is relatively little. However, once that data storage location is compromised, the SME would have lost majority of its data and it may quite likely be forced out of business. MNCs usually store their data in many different locations with state-of-the-art backup solutions such that it can recover its data with minimal losses.
Hence, BCDR is of greater value to SMEs as compared to MNCs.
The Solution
Having a Business Continuity Plan requires taking into account the IT landscape of your Business, the Endpoint-Users, the Business type and many other factors. Here at eVantage Technology, we offer expert IT consultancy services in order to deliver a comprehensive Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Plan specially tailored for your Business. Find out more information here.
Importance of Cloud Backup & Recovery Services
We understand that a comprehensive BCDR Plan may not be suitable for every Business because of its cost. However, we strongly recommend that Businesses at least have a Disaster Recovery Solution to mitigate against unforeseeable risks. Our Disaster Recovery Solution can be customized to fit your Business’s budget.
Cloud Backup is the preferred method of backing up Business data. This is due to the extreme Reliability, Scalability and Convenience that a Cloud Backup Service offers. The service would assist in preserving the data needed for continued operations through backing it up into the cloud. It could then recover the backed-up data in a matter of minutes, thus allowing Businesses to come online as soon as possible in the event of a contingency situation.
Conclusion: Run your Business with Peace of Mind
Think of a BCDR Plan as an investment towards the longevity of your Business. Even if, in the worst-case scenario, your office burns to the ground, it would be able to resume operations in a matter of minutes (not days or months if unprepared).
We offer a robust, cost-effective and reliable BCDR solutions tailored for any Business requirements. For more information, visit our BCDR solutions webpage or contact us by clicking below.
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