Small companies are ignoring business continuity plans at their peril
(10/07/2007)

Small and medium-sized firms are failing to put in place disaster recovery plans in the belief that they are the domain of larger companies. These are the findings of industry research by Iron Mountain Digital, the technology arm of Iron Mountain Incorporated.

Iron Mountain Digital warns that many could face total shut down and bankruptcy unless they have the plans in place to ensure a resumption of normal operations following a serious incident.

As a result, the company has launched a guide to disaster recovery planning called ‘Ignorance isn’t bliss – top tips to defeating disaster’. The guide covers the range of areas that SMEs should consider when developing business continuity plans. These include forming a disaster contingency team, assessing key areas of risk across the business, planning for recovery, and reviewing and communicating the plan to employees.

“It doesn’t matter what size business you are, a disaster can affect us all – whether it’s a naturally occurring incident such as extreme weather conditions, accidental damage such as burst pipes or man-made threats,” said Nick Cater, general manager for Northern Europe at Iron Mountain Digital.

“As many as eight out of ten businesses are thought to go bust within 18 months of experiencing a disaster so it’s a risk companies can’t afford to take. Our guide is designed to offer helpful advice and tips on the key areas to consider when designing and implementing a disaster recovery plan,” he added.

One company that is prepared for potential disaster is Enterprise Group, the non-conforming mortgage services provider. It undertook a review of how the business would cope in the event of a disaster putting its working premises and IT infrastructure out of action.

The company created a disaster recovery centre for 20 staff outside of London, which could support the day-to-day running of the business should the worst happen. Whilst this covered the physical side of operations, IT manager, Matthew Cramer recognised the need to ensure that electronic company data must also be made available and that it had to be as up to date as possible.

As a result, Enterprise Group turned to online backup specialist, Backup Direct, and Iron Mountain Digital for help. It selected Backup Direct™ to provide Iron Mountain Digital’s LiveVault® service to ensure continuous backup of crucial company information. The service continuously and automatically backs up the company’s data on Iron Mountain Digital’s own servers as well as at Enterprise Home Loans’ disaster recovery premises.

Should a disaster occur, Cramer is safe in the knowledge that he can restore company data via an online control panel linked to Iron Mountain Digital’s systems. The web interface also gives easy access to data – any time and from anywhere – allowing backup data to be electronically transmitted or restored onto physical media.