Data Recovery Costs: The Real Price Tag of Disaster Recovery

DATA RECOVERY COSTS - THE REAL PRICE TAG OF DISASTER RECOVERY written by Rick Windham of Discovery Office Systems

When you hear the words “data recovery costs,” do you have an idea of the real price tag for disaster recovery?

Many Santa Rosa business owners don’t implement a disaster recovery plan, thinking that the cost of disaster recovery can be handled if and when a catastrophe happens. Unfortunately for many they haven’t taken into account the true cost such a problem could have for their business.

Today we pull back the curtain and show how investing in a disaster recovery plan today cannot just save your company thousands of dollars, but can keep you in business when disaster strikes.

1. Hard Drive Recovery

Without reliable, tested backups of core business data such as payroll, client records, project updates, email, and website configurations, companies have to turn to specialized information recovery firms to recover their data.

These companies are exceptionally proficient in rescuing information from even the most unsalvageable-looking hard drives. However, that expertise and their custom machines, sometimes including the use of an electron microscope, can cost more than ten thousand dollars to recover a single server drive.

Without proper backups these firms are true miracle-workers, but we ensure our clients are prepared so as to never need their services.

The relatively minimal cost of reliable onsite, off-premises, and online backups is the best insurance you can have against needing this expensive recovery procedure.

2. Replacement Hardware

Servers contain special software that run the back-end of your company; from financial services to providing email and web service, a proper disaster recovery plan accounts for not only how to recover data, but where to recover data to. Unless this is planned beforehand it is unlikely that a suitable machine can be found that can host your information to get you up and running as soon as possible.

With the rise of virtual machine technology and the greatly reduced cost of server hosting, not only can a new server for an existing account be spun up almost at a moment’s notice, it can be tailed directly to your specific business needs. All of this takes pre-planning however, to reduce the cost of a new server from several thousand dollars and more than a week’s shipping time to a few hours and a monthly subscription.

3. Extended Downtime

The true cost of disaster recovery is not solely measured in money however, but time as well. Every minute that your data is inaccessible costs your company productivity and even customer good will. A proper disaster recovery plan accounts for all situations where your business could be impacted, and details contingent plans ahead of time, when the stress and pressure of a crisis isn’t complicating the situation. With time to not just plan but implement safeguards, a situation that could otherwise take a week or more to recovery from could be handled overnight or in a single business day.

Think how often your company receives email, needs information about current customers, handles payroll, and your website is viewed by potential accounts. The benefit to having a proper disaster recovery plan in place is not only the greatly reduced cost but also the reduction of downtime, making sure your business can continue to operate, almost whatever the calamity.

Conclusion

With a proper set of contingencies in place, the true cost of disaster recovery can be minuscule, and is truly an investment into the prosperity of your company. Without guidance and proper planning however a single disaster could spell financial ruin for a company of any size, particularly those that make their home in Santa Rosa. Our focus is on our clients’ continued success, and disaster recovery planning is one of the best tools at our disposal.

Do you have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan? You can learn about copiers and comprehensive disaster recovery plans by contacting Discovery Office Systems.