Data Backup Warning: the Worst of Hurricane Season Is Here.

Now that we are entering the worst couple of months for Hurricanes here in Florida, it's time to check in on your business' data backup and recovery plans.

If you don't have something in place already, now is the time to reconsider just before a possible disaster strikes. Currently, there are no hurricanes active, however, for most of the last 2 weeks, there were 4 major storms churning across the Atlantic. After seeing the aftermath of our recent hurricanes on the East Coast and the most current flooding brought on by Florence, it can’t be clearer that this can happen very quickly.

There are a few simple steps that need to be taken to have a viable data recovery system. The first step is obvious. Selecting a company to backup and store your company data. The location of these datacenters is quite important, especially when you are taking coastal storms into account. Make sure the facility has contingency plans for backup power generators, can withstand severe natural forces, or even consider one that is further inland to circumnavigate around hurricane issues entirely.

We partner with a company that has Category 5 hurricane-proof data centers, turbine-powered lightning strike fail-overs, 24/7 emergency staff, and located in no-flood zones. If you’d like to learn more about them, click here.

A few other points to mention. There must be someone in charge of the backup and recovery process. The best way to ensure the plan is cohesive and collaborative, a designated leader needs to be appointed to give someone ownership of the process. Without leadership during a crisis, the process may never even be implemented.

Documentation should also be a priority to ensure that your staff understands the process and knows how to recover data and in proper sequence. Training staff to follow rules and guidelines will improve the effectiveness of your backup process as well as testing these backups and making sure everything is functional is also paramount. If you don’t know the system works, then it would be quite useless during a crisis.

Not having your data secure and properly backed up can quite easily bring your company crashing down when disaster strikes. Whether it be from a malicious digital attack, an internal employee, or even during a well-known season of terrible storms, it’s important that these plans are in place and you have everything backed up in off-site locations.

For more information during these risky months, reach out to our team and we can assist with answering any questions about backups and how to proceed with either fixing your existing system or implementing a new service that suits your company needs.