Recession prompts the concern that disaster recovery and business continuity should be budgeted as well as other business spending. Wouldn’t it be frivolous to pay for an outside company to manage your data services? Does “cutting-back” include tightening the budget for business continuity planning?
That might be a first reaction but forward-thinking businesses need to remember that in an uncertain economy they need more than ever to insure consistency, security and reliability to their consumers. Actually, businesses need only calculate the cost of not functioning for 24 hrs. plus to realize that budgeting for business continuity is non-negotiable.
For business owners, disaster recovery is an insurance plan. What is the cost of not backing up your critical data? It’s easy to put off planning for data security but keep in mind the importance of your business credibility in this economy. Continuity Central lists data loss as one of the global risks of 2009.
Disaster planning aside, using an outside data management company can maximize your IT budget considerably. Long-term data storage and collocation can be economical when an outside company is secured to provide that service rather than purchasing equipment, maintaining and staffing for the same in-house solutions.
Is hiring a company to provide business continuity, data management or collocation a good investment? What is the future of data security?
eweek.com says that co-location centers will see a boom in 2009 despite the macroeconomy. “In general, most analysts and industry insiders believe that the co-location and Web hosting businesses will thrive in 2009, despite the weakening macroeconomy. This is because as companies look to economize in their IT budgets, they are beginning to look more closely at hosted services as a way to avoid capital expenditures that include new servers, switches, software, and affiliated licenses and services.
So, what is growing in a market that is not growing? While technology in itself seems to often ride atop the wave and even determine the course of global economy, what is a safe bet? Security. Money.cnn.com notes to current college students that business continuity planning, disaster recovery planning and data are good career paths in the current economic climate as the demand for security specialists is growing 13% a year in the U.S. *
Is a disaster recovery plan restricted to large corporations? Are they the only businesses that have something to lose? Many U.S. small business owners seem to think so. Office Depot’s survey of U.S. Small Business Owners notes that of those businesses indicating they were not prepared for a natural disaster:
71% of small businesses do not have a disaster plan in place. 64% said they didn’t need one and most respondents said they would be able to resume business within 72 hours.
The Association of Small Business Development Centers reported that 1 in 4 businesses will experience a crisis worthy of break in operations in one year. 43% of those businesses never reopen. **
So, education seems to be a critical factor in securing a working plan for business continuity. Where does a business owner start?
One of the most important factors in choosing a data management center is locality, according to A.S. White, Guide to IT Outsourcing Services on Business.com.
Certainly, if collocation is retained from a service provider there is convenience as well as a sense of security if that company is located in the proximity of the business but not next-door. In the case of a real disaster it would be logistically and psychologically better to have data center service several miles away. For example, a firm in Manhattan might choose to secure data center services in Westchester where it’s not too far to drop in but a safe distance should, God forbid, a local disaster occur.
Contact the company for rates. Small business owners might (as the Office Depot study implies) think that data storage or managed servers are far too expensive when, in fact, they have no real numbers.
If the company is nearby, schedule a time to drop in. You want a company that you will feel comfortable with if they are going to provide you with peace of mind.
As mentioned previously, take a hard look at what a break in business function would cost. Make sure that when you secure a data center they have tested generator power sources for an uptime of 99.9999%
Explain your needs. At Xand we are committed to listening to our prospective and current clients and jointly determining the best business solutions. Peace of mind is not a place to skimp in an uncertain time.
February 9, 2009
Sonia McSweeney, Director of Marketing
Xand Corporation
* http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/26/news/economy/annie/fortune_annie072605/index.htm
** http://www.officedepot.com/a/promo/disaster/main/
