Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery DR Testing
Does your business have an actual, written, tested, and documented plan for data recovery and business continuity? Some key aspects to be aware of:
A business impact assessment is a good starting point - for your business data identify:
What is it? Accounting, engineering, HR, design, patient data, client data, etc. Identify EVERYTHING you possibly can.
Where is it? Local servers, local workstations, cloud services, M365, Box, Dropbox, etc.
How is it backed up? Clearly this is key…if you know and have seen from time-to-time your backups, great. Are your backups separated from your data? (if not they can ALSO be encrypted by a ransomware attack). Are they encrypted? (if not then they can be attacked and the data stolen). Are they securely replicated to secured cloud storage? (what happens if your local backup copy is destroyed?). How frequently are test restores done of each of your various backups? (this ensures your data is recoverable and that restore procedures are accurate)
When is your various data backed up? (Once hourly? Once daily? Once weekly?) This is important based upon how much of your data you can routinely afford to lose (an hour’s worth? A week?)
How long are your various backups retained? (a week? a month? a year?)
How about other business systems?
It is highly unlikely that relatively static business data is all that you have, and all that you have to do recovery testing on:
This month, Dolce Vita performed data recovery for two medical office clients. In one of the cases, we recovered the entire medical records system without a hitch. Since there was a recovery plan in place, the recovery was performed seamlessly without any impact to patient care. In the vast majority of cases where businesses are backing up data, they have no restoration procedures. They also have no idea how to restore different data sets. This can be as simple as a restore of a QuickBooks company file, or as complex as a restoration of multiple servers from an offsite data center. Dolce Vita recommends the following for ALL types of businesses:
Know what business critical data you have
Know where this data resides and how it is backed up
Ensure that written documentation exists for the restoration of each data set and keep a full copy offsite
Verify that ALL critical data is also backed up offsite
Periodically use the documentation to perform restore tests of specific data sets and ensure that any discrepancies are corrected. Make sure the documentation is updated to note any changes
Ensure that email systems and websites are included in this planning
Would you like us to show you the risks and limitations of your current systems?
Our onsite audit can unveil some problems…
From now until January 31st, we are offering a $500 Business Impact Assessment (a $1000-$2000 value) with no cost or obligation. We will work with you to start a routine Business Impact Assessment, and will assist with the risk evaluation process. In addition, we will run a scan of your network shared data with a listing of current user access rights. This assessment is focused on identifying ways to make your systems more recoverable and more secure.
To claim your Business Impact Assessment, call us at 405-822-7912. This offer expires January 31, 2026.
Do you know if your information is recoverable? Be sure! Call us for a better solution! 405-822-7912
