Debunked Disaster Recovery Myths

As part of our ongoing focus on National Preparedness Month, we wanted to debunk some of the common myths around disaster planning and recovery:

Myth 1: Your organization is immune to disaster or not at risk.
Many organizations take comfort in the belief that they are immune from disaster because there is little environmental risk due to their location. What these organizations are forgetting are the many man-made and technological disasters. Man-made disasters could be accidental or intentional, and either option has the potential to produce serious consequences. Potential technological disasters can include power outages or surges, structural collapses, or fires.

Without the proper preparations in place, the consequences of any kind of disaster can be far worse than necessary.

Myth 2: Your staff will be your backup plan when disaster strikes.
When it comes to man-made or technological disasters, you should always be able to count on your staff to be there to help. But what about natural disasters? If your staff lives within the vicinity of your business, more than likely they are also affected by the incident! In this case, your staff’s first priority is likely to be their own families and homes. If you do have staff that are available to help, are they properly trained in disaster recovery?

It is important to have an experienced disaster recovery provider that is located elsewhere. Not only are they less likely to also be affected by the same disaster, they can be counted on to have knowledgeable staff on site at all times to help in case of emergency.

Myth 3: Disaster recovery is expensive and testing isn’t worth the hassle.
Depending on your organization’s disaster recovery plan and specific RPO & RTO objectives, an appropriate disaster recovery plan can be quite expensive. But how much would it cost your organization if you went offline or your business shut down for any length of time? It’s important to compare the risks associated with NOT having a disaster recovery plan against the actual costs of putting one in place. You’ll find that it’s probably more cost-effective to create a DR plan than risking running a business without one.

If you’ve made changes to your environment or staff since the last test, how confident are you that the plan can be adapted on the fly should a disaster strike? Have you tested your entire plan and application/environment, or merely a subset? Does your plan account for the time it will take to replace your hardware and/or software? If you want more information regarding regular testing, make sure to check out our previous post.

When planning for disaster recovery or assessing your current plans, make sure you’re avoiding these common myths. Don’t be afraid to contact us if you have any questions!