Disaster recovery is something of a bitter pill to swallow for many, but the potential for loss is too great to ignore. Of the companies that suffer a catastrophic loss; 6 percent of companies survive, while 43 percent never reopen and 51 percent close within two years; the risks are too great to ignore and preparations is essential.
Many consultancies discuss disaster recovery, few have personal experience. In the spring of 2007, Zahler IT experienced the devastation of a fire. Through the disaster planning the company emerged from the fire with an operational office within one week, no email loss and, most importantly, no loss of client or internal data files.
Each client's disaster recovery preparation is based upon individual needs and exposures. A client may require a plan that creates point in time backups multiple times a day and others can tolerate the loss of a few days worth of data. Balancing the costs of execution against the cost of loss is essential to develop a plan that will be right for each client's needs.