What’s Your Appetite for Risk?

But what valuable information can we learn from these statistics? Why is being underprepared such risky business? And what can you expect from our series on disaster recovery?

Hardware failures cause 45% of total unplanned downtime…

Unplanned downtime can have any number of repercussions, such as; a disgruntled customer base, a loss of new sales to competitors, a negative impact on company reputation, and even bankruptcy and liquidation. Having to pause service because of a disaster is not only frustrating, but it’s actively detrimental thanks to the fact that you’ll still be paying out for all your usual expenses, without the income necessary to balance these out. With only 2% of businesses reportedly recovering from incidents in under an hour, and more than 50% of companies having experienced an incident that lasted longer than a whole workday, the costs of businesses disasters can have serious consequences.

93% of companies without disaster recovery plans, who then suffer a major data disaster, are out of business within a year.

The cost of losing essential data, especially with GDPR now in full force, are high enough that most businesses who experience data related disasters with no recovery plan in place, go under. Preparing for the worst is so important in a world where data is becoming increasingly important, and with 58% of businesses having no back-up plan for data loss, its worrying that so many companies still do not take data loss seriously. And they should, especially considering that a recent government survey concluded that the average cost of a cyber-breach has increased from £1,860 to £8,180 in the last two years alone. As data becomes a greater part of the way businesses are run, the costs can only continue to rack-up.

38% of firms relied on servers and hardware at the same location as the rest of their infrastructure.

Storing all your business hardware in a single location is incredibly short-sighted and could lead to significant losses for your business. If something were to happen to your premises then this could cause a huge disruption to your business’ ability to function, as your employees would have no access to essential data and communication channels. Not only does this mean paying out for expensive replacement equipment, but it also means suffering from extended downtime on top of that, making for one pricey situation to be in. 

96% of companies with a trusted backup and disaster recovery plan were able to survive ransomware attacks. And 96% of businesses with a disaster recovery solution in place are able to fully recover their operations.

Being prepared for a disaster can make a significant difference to your business continuity, potentially the difference between staying in business and filing for bankruptcy. Having the right services and steps in place, means limiting the damage, regaining control, and keeping your customers’ confidence in your business.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be outlining exactly how your business can strengthen its disaster recovery resilience, through a free downloadable planning template, examples of how other businesses coped with disaster, and the steps you can take to instantly improve your business continuity.