July 2016
Back on Your Feet: Why it’s Important to Have a Disaster Recovery Plan in Place
At a time when businesses find their IT under threat from the twin demons of hackers and malfunction, it’s important to be ready when a crisis strikes. That’s where your disaster recovery plan comes into play; and it doesn’t matter whether you’ve only got one laptop and a bespoke CRM or an entire office full of Macbooks – you’ll definitely benefit from being ready!
What is a Disaster Recovery Plan?
In all honesty, it’s exactly what it sounds like! This is the strategy that’s going to help get you back on your feet in the event of an IT disaster or systems breach. It’ll help you to address the issue with clients, safeguard your data and ensure that work continues as normal once the disaster has passed. The plan should be something that’s clear and easy to quickly trigger if the time comes.
What Should Be Included?
The ideal disaster recovery plan will help you to do three things:
1. Reassure clients
2. Minimise damage
3. Ensure the company is back on its feet quickly
With that in mind, any processes included within the plan should all relate back to these three aims. For example, your plan could include a draft email for clients to explain the situation, contact details for your IT provider in the event of an emergency, and instructions for backing up data. As mentioned, these are just examples and there are many, many more potential processes and pieces of information you could include!
How Do I Successfully Implement the Plan?
Hopefully, you’ll never need to use a disaster recovery plan – but there’s always a chance it could happen. That’s why it’s essential to successfully implement the plan within your team or overall organisation, limiting the reaction time needed when a crisis occurs.
First, you need to cement the ideas we’ve spoken about above – including drawing up procedures and divvying up responsibility. Once the foundations have been put down, it’s time to get your team’s full support. To do this, explain to them the importance of the plan (this blog might help!) and how it will benefit customers, as well as fielding any questions they may have. If you show full confidence in the plan and its implementation, then you can be sure they’ll be confident too. Finally, it might help to have a drill – just make sure everybody knows about it!
Even Team Lunar Have a Plan!
Yes, even here at Lunar HQ we make use of a disaster recovery plan. With our bespoke CRM offering, we’re responsible for our clients’ data and maintaining our guarantee of constant uptime. Unfortunately, there may be an occasion in the future where that uptime is compromised. Thankfully, our team take their responsibilities seriously and they each know what to do should the worst happen. That leaves our clients feeling reassured and confident that their data and productivity is in safe hands.
In conclusion, a disaster recovery plan can massively reduce the fallout from a tech crisis – and it’s not as difficult to create as you may have previously thought. So what are you waiting for? Secure your IT and show your customers that they’re right to place their faith in you by proving you’re ready for anything!
Are you looking for a reliable bespoke CRM? Look no further! Get in touch with Lunar CRM to discuss how our tailored solutions can help your business.