Major data losses can cripple a business’ operations. Statistics have revealed that close to 73% of major companies in the world are not prepared regarding disaster recovery. Disaster-related losses range from just a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars, with close to 20% of all reported losses being more than $50,000.

A Gartner survey has revealed that only 6% of all medium-sized businesses can successfully recover from a major data loss. This means that the remaining 94% will never recover from such data losses.

One of the main reasons contributing to these statistics is that only a few businesses have a proactive approach when it comes to disaster recovery. Many organizations just signup for a disaster recovery program and assume that their data is protected. This can be true, but only to some extent.

There are some things businesses normally get wrong about disaster recovery. Here are some of them.

Recovery is simply about data and systems

This majorly determines the approach in which a business treats all its applications. Some applications are more important than others, and that’s a reality. If some of the applications go offline or experience downtime, they can cost your business thousands of dollars.

However, some other applications can be down for the longest time possible with minimum effects. Therefore, it is important to optimize your recovery and set recovery options based on where they belong.

Failing to protect their data properly

Data backup related issues cause 40% of all recovery failures experienced by many businesses. This signifies the importance of protecting data. Also, how much data can a business afford to lose in case of a major disaster?

This determines the technology the business will require to secure its data. So, it is important to identify the critical data to your business and secure it. Also, ensure that your backups are stored in a safe place.

Thinking that their backups alone can protect them

Even if a business has fully and recently backed up its data, it will need the infrastructure and procedures to recover it in case of a major disaster. Some businesses have the tendency of testing their recovery procedures when the disaster strikes.

That might look very ok, but is very risky. Businesses should ensure that they have updated hardware and software programs which will help in recovering lost data – otherwise, the backups will be of no help to the business if it can recover it.