A disaster can come in many forms: a cyber-attack, a sudden power outage, major or minor flooding, accidental deletion of a file or folder. A pressing issue that all companies face is how to carry out data recovery in the aftermath of such disasters.
An important part of coming up with a data recovery plan is to evaluate the kinds of data you want to protect and figure out how to best manage it. Businesses, even small ones, generate massive quantities of information. As you think about how to protect and back up this information, consider the following issues:
- What are your most important data? In the event of a disaster, think about what files and other digital information you’d want to have access to immediately and what would be less urgent. You can have everything backed up and securely stored, but you could make certain kinds of data more easily retrievable, so that they’re immediately available to you. This helps if the disaster interrupts a major ongoing project, or cuts you off from files you need ASAP.
- What are the unique vulnerabilities of your different kinds of data? Some of your data, for instance, may be floating around as attachments in insecure emails. Some of it may not even be in digital form, but could be important documents that you’ve stored in a safe or cabinet that could get damaged, even by something as simple and commonplace as a pipe bursting in your office. When you think about the different kinds of data you’d want to recover after a disaster, consider the current state they’re in and whether they’d need additional or more secure back-ups.
- Are your data organized? You may have multiple versions of the same file, all of them poorly labeled, with little to tell you what’s the most recent file or what changes people made to each one. You could have errors in various files that haven’t been fixed, such as data entry mistakes. It will be easier for you to take advantage of a strong data recovery plan if your information is in good shape – if it’s clear and well-organized. You’ll be able to start up business operations without struggling to make sense of messy data.
Given how crucial it is for you to be able to recover your data after a disaster, it’s best to contact professionals for advice and for data recovery solutions that you can depend on during any catastrophe, large or small. You’ll also be able to get advice on evaluating and managing your data well, so that you can come up with recovery solutions that work best for your business.