SMBs still exposed to data loss and disasters
Trend research by Birmingham’s IT service and support specialist, Icomm Technologies, has found 82% of SMBs across the region acknowledged they felt exposed to disasters that could effect their business.
However, Disaster Recovery and the protection systems associated with it are perceived as very expensive and the preserve of large corporate enterprises. SMBs are still not recognising that they apply different levels of value to technology and the support they put in place to make sure it works twenty four by seven.
The research also found that over half of the SMB respondents do not have any form of Disaster Recovery protection in place beyond simple backup tapes. An alarming fact considering the Home Office has found one in five businesses suffer a major disruption every five years. And Microsoft UK more specifically found that computer downtime is costing Britain's small to medium sized businesses £64 billion each year.
Icomm’s Ian Callens said: "Most businesses seem to keep their valuable back up tapes in a drawer next to their server. This means if there is a flood or fire then all of the company’s operating data will be lost. This is exceptionally costly to any business and the DTi has documented that seven out of ten SMEs would go out of business within a year if they experienced a major disaster. So, having no DR contingency can be the most costly mistake any business can make."
As a direct result Icomm has launched a new service, "Ditto", designed specifically for the smaller business and offering considerable protection for little annual outlay. The service promises to get businesses up and running within two and a half hours of a major disaster, so retaining a level of business continuity that rivals the recovery time of many high cost large corporate solutions.
Icomm will take a snapshot of your server’s structure and data, storing it in a secure hosted environment within their own state of the art server facility. Icomm’s co-location facility in Manchester adds extra protection. This means that if your business is involved in a disaster then you can remotely access critical data through Icomm’s facility from two and a half hours of disaster as if nothing has happened.
This service is essentially an outsourced managed server environment that provides disaster insurance to protect businesses from the worst. Once the disaster is rectified back on site, Icomm can help recover further data to get businesses back to normal operation.
Callens concludes: "The unthinkable can happen and does, this can cause a healthy business to fail. The DTi has found that if computer systems are unavailable for up to 10 days or more 50% of businesses cease trading immediately with a further 93% going bankrupt within a year. This is due to lost sales, reduced customer satisfaction, the actual cost of fixing the problem and lost opportunities.
£Our service gives protection to SMBs at a fraction of the cost of them setting up their own remote, fire proof Disaster Recovery suite. A facility that SMBs usually cannot financially rationalise given the level of business they undertake. The bottom line is our service gives SMBs cost effective access to critical protection of their businesses bottom line when disaster strikes. However, IT is one part of a critical business continuity planning jigsaw that is needed. Businesses need to address Disaster Recovery with the gravitas it deserves."
Callens offers the following guidelines for companies looking at disaster recovery planning:
- Select management personnel as DR team
- Analyse the threats
- List steps to minimise threat
- Develop a "coping" strategy
- Draft a directory of supporting documents that will help the business continue
- Place IT and data centrally within your planning
- Test your recovery plan annually
For further information, advice and guidance on actions to take in the event of disaster, please contact us on 0121 248 7931.
2008.10.10 (LM)
