Chris Barr, technical director of CT, looks at why your organisation should consider a Back-Up and Disaster Recovery Plan 

Every day, your business relies on documents, applications, and existing data to function. What would happen if you suddenly lost access to these things?

Why should your organisation should have a Back-Up and Disaster Recovery Plan? 

  1. Natural Disasters – Storms, fires, and floods can all do irreparable damage to your business. Without a DR plan in place, you may find it extremely difficult to resume operations. 80% of companies that close for more than 5 days never reopen, so getting back on your feet is crucial in the event of a natural disaster.
  2. Hardware Failure – If your hardware fails it can take all your data with it. While you can take steps to protect your hardware, it is essential to regularly back-up your data. Using a cloud-based or off-site storage can add additional protections, as it is unlikely both locations will be struck at the same time.
  3. Human Errors – No one is perfect, and that includes you and your employees. Forgetting to save changes, accidentally deleting an important document, or flipping the wrong switch could lead to a significant loss for your company. Training programs are essential to help reduce human error. BUT, the only way to cover your organisation from human error is to have a DR plan in place.
  4. Cyber Crimes – Cyber-crimes are on the rise and most businesses are affected at some point. A virus or ransomware attack could hold your data hostage, grinding your business to a halt and causing massive profit losses. In fact, 91% of all data breaches are caused by a phishing email. Your DR plan should include steps to recover from a hacking attempt, keeping your data safe and accessible.
  5. Customer Service – Ultimately, you need a disaster recovery plan to provide your customers the service they have come to expect from you. If your business has a prolonged service interruption, you could lose valuable customers to a competitor. The faster you can get back on your feet, the better for you and your customers.

 

CT’s Secure Solution for Fletchers Solicitors

CT began working with Fletchers in 2018.   The business is one of the UK’s top 100 law firms, employing a 350 strong legal team, specialising in medical negligence, serious injury and motorcycle accidents.

An organisation of this scale cannot afford for any core services to be down for any amount of time as it can have huge implications both financially and in terms of reputation. Fletchers needed a solution that would seamlessly fit into their environment whilst meeting their strict and important Recovery Time Objectives.

“As an existing Veeam customer, Fletchers approached CT to provide a DR solution that allowed the ability to spin up our core IT systems on an external cloud platform should a disaster affect our site or IT infrastructure.  CT’s DR experts worked closely with Fletchers to truly understand our business needs, identifying their core services and what resources were necessary to replicate in our DRaaS environment.”  Head of Network and Infrastructure, Fletchers Solicitors

CT experts continue to work closely together with Fletchers to maintain the highest-level support and meet any changing requirements.