Data backups are simple: if files are lost, a copy exists somewhere safe. But a disaster that causes major data loss is not a simple problem, and backup alone doesn’t guarantee that your operations can resume quickly after a crisis.
The true measure of resilience lies in how fast your business can get back up and running. To minimize your recovery time objective (RTO), you need a robust business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) strategy.
What data backups can (and can’t) do
A backup solution ensures that copies of your data exist outside of your main systems, safely stored until you need them. Backups can be configured to update automatically, and you can store them in the cloud, on local hardware, or both. This protects against accidental deletions, hardware failures, and even ransomware attacks.
The problem? Having your files back doesn’t mean your systems, applications, or workflows will be immediately ready to go. You can restore years of customer data, but if the software needed to use it isn’t restored and reconfigured appropriately, the data is useless. That’s the gap small and medium-sized businesses face when they rely on backup alone.
The bigger picture: Business continuity and disaster recovery
BCDR is the framework that ensures your business survives a disruption while also minimizing costly and potentially fatal downtime. As the name suggests, BCDR has two primary components:
- Business continuity – focuses on maintaining essential operations during a disruption (e.g., ensuring employees can access systems remotely if your office is inaccessible)
- Disaster recovery – designed to get IT systems and applications back to their working state as quickly as possible
Together, they create a plan that not only safeguards your data but also ensures you can continue to serve customers, process transactions, and keep operations running even in the middle of a crisis.
Why recovery speed matters
Consider the difference between restoring data and restoring operations. If your server fails and you only have data backups, you’ll need to rebuild the server environment, reinstall applications, and reconfigure them before you can meaningfully use the recovered data. This process could take days, weeks, or even longer — time that you and your customers don’t have.
Long IT outages are of course harmful in the short term, as you lose valuable business and progress on projects, but that’s just the start. Prolonged downtime not only frustrates your employees, but also causes customers to lose faith and go elsewhere for their needs.
With a BCDR solution, recovery is measured in minutes or hours at most. Your network undergoes a complete restoration, and in the meantime, critical systems can be virtualized, allowing you to run applications directly from backups until normal infrastructure is restored. This means employees remain productive and customers experience minimal disruption.
What’s the difference between backups and BCDR?
To put it simply, backups are a safety net, while BCDR is a survival plan. One protects your files, while the other protects your operations, reputation, and revenue.
- Backups provide the data you need to operate.
- BCDR ensures that your data can actually be used in short order.
How a comprehensive BCDR plan helps your business
Implementing BCDR ensures that your business is prepared for hardware crashes, cyberattacks, power outages, human error, and anything else that could grind operations to a halt.
A robust BCDR plan protects from a wide variety of known and unknown threats, and will:
- Identify your most critical business functions and prioritize their recovery.
- Enable remote work for your employees so that they can stay on track.
- Reduce downtime to keep customers and employees connected and satisfied.
- Provide continuous monitoring and testing to confirm readiness.
Effective data backups are vital for your recovery, but they are just one component of a comprehensive BCDR plan that safeguards your entire operation.
Get a BCDR plan customized to your business
Is your business relying solely on data backups to protect you from disastrous downtime? Operating without a BCDR plan in place is gambling with the survival of your company. Fortunately, you can prepare for and mitigate business-ruining disasters. Contact outsourceIT for a FREE consultation, and our team will craft a robust, comprehensive BCDR plan that’s customized to your business and the threats it faces.
