SMEs complacent about comms disaster planning

LONDON, UK: Too many companies are letting a disaster occur because they are not properly protected; they stick their heads in the sand and hope for the best, which can spell financial suicide, according to itlab.

Dom Monkhouse, Managing Director, itlab, explains: “Accidents can occur, for example look at the major communications hub which caught fire in Manchester a few years ago leaving hundreds of businesses without any telephone or internet channels for weeks. Not surprisingly, over half the companies eventually stop trading, and most of these were SMEs.

This was because they didn’t have any disaster recovery plans in place. Without a back up plan valuable customer data can be lost which in turn ruins brand reputation and sometimes it can even lead to bankruptcy.

“Our experience of disruption, whether it’s IT failing or a disaster happening is that companies fail to have in place even the most basic solutions. A disaster recovery plan does not need to be complicated, nor do its elements need to be expensive. Often, just getting a business’s phones to automatically divert to a location scripted to manage them can make a huge difference, as can making sure the firm backs up data to a remote location.

“For SMEs it is vital therefore to look for a company that can help you resolve this problem before its too late. A company that has all the tools necessary for reliable disaster recovery can take away the headache and ensure you are full protected 24/7. It’s better to be safe now and not sorry later!”

itlab DR offers a tailored package of services that will keep your business running in the event of a disaster.

Within four hours, customers will be able to access virtual copies of their servers from anywhere with Internet access. Within 24 hours, they will also have a fully configured ‘warm site’ office space, local to your premises, for up to a month. 

Within two working days -- you will have fully restored physical copies of your servers ready for deployment in a location of your choosing. In addition to this you get a dedicated Event Manager, email filtering with archiving and business continuity module (never lose an email!), full ‘best-of-breed’ online backup and regular invocation tests. There’s also no need to take out any additional insurance – you’re already covered by your existing policy.