According to the data, there were a total of 3 natural disasters in the state of California in 2018, resulting in $180.8 billion in insured losses. That’s up from the $23.8 billion last calculated in 2016. With a bad wildfire season just around the corner for the Bay Area, we’ve already seen an active winter, with mudslides, and flooding throughout, followed by that sweltering California heat.
Despite their frequency, natural catastrophes aren’t the only disasters you and your customers have to worry about. The rest is attributed to instances such as data corruption, system failure, and human error. In fact, hardware failure is responsible for half the downtime that small to midsize businesses experience.
When Risk Management Meets Disaster Recovery
Unfortunately, ideal scenarios and real-world scenarios are two different things. While it sounds good in theory, trying to protect against every possible catastrophe is cost-prohibitive and therefore impractical for most businesses. Helping develop a Risk Management and Disaster Recovery Plan for the most likely “disastrous events.”
Risk Management Plans assist in spending wisely by budgeting for disaster scenarios that pose the biggest threat to the business. For instance, if a data center is located in Southern California, then earthquakes are a legitimate concern. On the other hand, if you’re in the Northeast, then snowstorms are something you should plan for during the winter months.
Whether your risk management efforts uncover one type of event or another, there are certain disasters every organization should plan for. Educating employees on the importance of security, data backup, and consistent testing being cornerstones of any disaster recovery plan.
When onboarding our managed services clients, we remind them that solidifying a commitment to security can help prevent disasters, while a best-in-class backup and recovery plan is essential when disaster does strike. Periodically test procedures within your organization to make sure staff are prepared and data can be recovered because just a plan, itself, is all but useless.
In Closing
You never know when disaster will strike or in what form. What you can do is anticipate the biggest risks for customers and help them prepare for the worst. At the end of the day, disaster preparedness is the key to risk management.
Have a question regarding your organization’s disaster recovery plan or any risk management surrounding your business? Contact us for a no-cost, no-obligation conversation with one of our friendly staff members.
