HOUSTON, TEXAS: RSA Corp, a Houston-based managed IT support, business technology services and IT staffing firm, published a disaster preparedness blog series to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) better prepare for the 2009 hurricane season. Online backup, voice-over IP, email message continuity and colocation options are highlighted in a Disaster Recovery Toolkit.

"Last year, many businesses were not properly prepared for the effects of Hurricane Ike," said George Black, president and CEO of RSA Corp. "Our goal with this blog series was to investigate and present cost-effective options for SMBs to safeguard their infrastructure, data and operations against potential threats against their business."

Whether it's a natural disaster, power outage, malice by a disgruntled employee or regular infrastructure maintenance, network disruptions can affect business productivity and result in lost revenue. According to research by the University of Texas, only six per cent of companies survive a catastrophic data loss, while 43 per cent never reopen and 51 per cent close within two years. Gartner estimates that only 35 per cent of SMBs have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place.

SMBs require the same enterprise-level protection as large companies, but at a fraction of the cost. In the Disaster Recovery Toolkit blog series, RSA Corp executives and specialists provide insight on and evaluate business continuity options for SMBs.

Topics include:
Online backup - Knock, Knock. Who's There? Your Data
Voice-over IP and SMS text messaging - Stay in Touch After the Storm
Email continuity - Can your Email Server Weather the Storm?
Colocation services - Business Must Go On…DR & Colocation
 

"While the statistics are real, the implications behind them are even more sobering," said Jeremy Ross, practice manager for Managed IT Services at RSA Corp. "Businesses are left vulnerable due to poor planning, inconsistent execution and a genuine lack of awareness of available options."