Disaster Proof

Disaster Proof Your BusinessStrategies every business must know in order keep their data fully

protected and retrievable in the event of a disaster

If your server suddenly crashed and all your

data was erased, how long would it take before

your business was back up and running as

usual? Do you have a solid plan to ensure your

business is disaster proof in the event of a

disaster?

What Is A “Disaster”?

Any unplanned interruption of

access to your data for an

unacceptable period of time for

whatever reason.

What Would My Business

Consider a Disaster? Natural Disasters (i.e. snow, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, fires, etc.)

Employee Downtime from old equipment running the risk of Server

crash

Employee Downtime due to:

3rd party software malfunctions

3rd party attacks on your internal network

A disgruntled employee

Situations keeping staff from their work space

Theft in the office place

How does your current business continuity strategy stack up against

these challenges?

What are the causes?

Hardware Failure

Human Error

Software Corruption

Computer Viruses

Theft

Hardware Destruction

How Do These Disasters

Affect My Business?

How Do These

Disasters Affect My Business?

Your company cannot do “business as usual”

Staff may be unable to perform many functions

Clients may not be able to reach your staff

Prospects may not be able to be engaged

Revenue your staff produces by the hour ceases every

hour they can’t produce

Lost Sales…

Lost Productivity…

Loss of Revenue $$$…

Why Should You Be Concerned?

According to the analyst firm IDC, about 70% of ALLsuccessful attacks on computer networks were carried out by employees and insiders

The survival rate for companies without a disaster recovery plan is less than 10%! (Touché Ross)

40% of companies shut down for 3 days fail within 36 months (Contingency Planning and Management)

International Data Corp. estimates that companies lose an average of $84,000 for every hour of downtime

Lose Access to

Your Data,

Lose Your Business

It’s That Simple…

4 Common

Misconceptions

Businesses Have About

Their Backup Systems

That Give Them A False Sense

of Security:

Common Misconceptions

1. Assuming all of your data is being protected simply

because you already have a backup system in place.




2. You have a firewall, antivirus, and backup system

in place-so our business is already protected.





in place-so our business is already protected.

3. Thinking that backing up your data will allow you

to quickly restore your network to its original state,

quickly and easily.





in place-so your business is already protected.

3. Thinking that backing up your data will allow you

to quickly restore your network to its original state,

quickly and easily.

4. Trusting that your backup is automatically working

without doing periodic test restores.

The Reality is…

Nearly 100% of disasters and restoration

costs can be completely avoided or at least

greatly mitigated with proper planning and

proactive maintenance.

9 Strategies to Make Sure You

Don’t Lose Data

Strategies to make sure you don’t

lose data

1. Make sure you are backing up your system

regularly (at least daily): to both a local and offsite

storage system.


lose data

2. Ensure that all of your systems have up-to-date

antivirus software and are on a program for

automatic updates of all virus definitions, and

frequently check for success.


lose data

3. Ensure all of your systems are on a program for

automated update of (nearly) all software security

patches, and frequently check for successful

completion.


lose data

4. Set up a firewall, that is regularly monitored,

updated, and tested by an IT professional.


lose data

5. Have a written policy that clearly explains the

appropriate use of business technology and where

employees should save their data… and check

adherence to it regularly.


lose data

6. Design your network permissions so that

employees only have access to the data they

absolutely must have access to in order to do their

jobs, and nothing more.


lose data

7. Keep spare hardware for your most critical

systems on hand for fast replacement and system

recovery – this is the easiest and fastest way.


lose data

8. Test systems regularly! Perform a complete

data restore to make sure your backups are working

properly.


lose data

9. Put together a backup and disaster

recovery/business continuity plan that will quickly

get your business operational in the event of a

major hardware failure or natural disaster.

What Your Business Needs Remove manual processes/automate your backups

Business continuity

Single hardware failure

Multiple hardware failure

Site failure that prevents access

Bare metal restore

Without need of operating system

Monitoring of logs and management of backups

Confirm completion and restorability

Notification if there is an issue

Speed to restore individual files

Regulatory compliance

Security/Encryption

Key Components

Create mission-critical documentation

Hardware

Software applications

Office equipment (i.e. printers, copiers, etc)

Physical layout of network equipment

Network layout

Develop emergency contact list

Organizational escalation procedure

Vendor list

Proactive, NOT Reactive

Proactive Monitoring and Management

Daily health checks (i.e. event log, disk space, CPU

monitoring)

Anti-virus updates

Back-up verification

Updates to address system security vulnerabilities

Configuration management

Virus detection, elimination and protection

Testing and Monitoring

Develop recovery scenarios

Communicate and monitor the plan

Try to “poke holes” in the plan

Keep the plan updated

What to do if you have concerns?

1. Contact your IT professional.

2. Define your most critical data and systems.

3. Get specific about the following: How fast must you be able to recover data? How long can your business be down? What is this worth to your business?

4. Design systems and policies that accommodate these requirements.

Manufacturing SMBs Professional Services Legal

How Can We Help You?

As your Trusted Advisor and CIO, we become your

team of trained, certified professionals who quickly

and effectively eliminate your IT problems and

continually introduce you to new solutions aimed at

reducing your costs, improving your efficiencies and

mitigating your business risks.

Professional and IT Consulting Services for you!

Questions?

Mention this webinar and get…

1st Month Free – Digerati Group

Backup

Offer Expires: March 16, 2012

Special Offer for webinar attendees