A disaster recovery plan for IT company systems and data should be key to your cyber security strategy.
When protecting your network and files, it’s easy to focus on important things like your router’s firewall or antivirus software. However, good disaster recovery planning also considers how you can restore your operating system, programs, and data following an outage.
In this guide to effective IT disaster recovery management, we’ll examine in more detail the business value of implementing a disaster recovery plan and the process behind doing so.
What is an IT disaster recovery plan?
IT business continuity and disaster recovery are about preparedness—literally, planning for any future incident so that you can respond quickly if it occurs.
An obvious example of this is a ransomware attack, where you find your files locked and demand payment in return for the decryption key. However, not all disasters are malware-related.
Here are some common types of IT disaster recovery incidents:
Cyber Security
Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common. In 2024, the UK government reported that half of businesses had experienced a cyber security breach over the preceding year.
This figure increased to 70% of medium-sized and 74% of large businesses, costing over £10,000 each for those affected firms.
Breaches can occur for various reasons, including viruses and malware, criminals impersonating a legitimate organisation, and phishing attacks.
Natural Disasters
Physical damage to IT infrastructure can occur due to natural disasters like fires and floods, both directly and due to electrical and internet outages in severe weather.
IT business continuity and disaster recovery planning should anticipate extreme weather events and plan to mitigate them.
That can include methods such as remote data backup so it can be retrieved from elsewhere and even an entire ‘Site B’ setup of workstations that can be activated at short notice.
Human Error
Not all disasters are caused by malicious activity. Simple human error can have catastrophic consequences.
A famous example of this occurred during the creation of Toy Story 2, when a Pixar employee typed a ‘delete’ command in the wrong place and erased 90% of the work done on characters, scenery and motion.
Galyn Susman, a producer on the movie, had been working from home after recently giving birth – and her computer was left with the only copy of those files.
While it wasn’t a deliberate remote backup – just a lucky coincidence – Toy Story 2 has become the shining example of why you should always keep data in more than one place.
Hardware/Software Failures
Finally, sometimes things just break. A hard drive failure can leave you with hard or even impossible-to-recover data. Software glitches can close a program without the chance to save your working files.
There are ways to protect against the vast majority of these incidents. Cloud computing has unlocked the potential of disaster recovery as a service.
Hourly incremental backups store your entire file system on a remote server in near real-time, so if you need to restore your data after an outage, you lose as little work as possible.
Why do I need to prepare my business for IT disaster recovery?
Any company that relies on data and computer systems to generate productivity and revenue should consider effective IT disaster recovery management essential.
You probably have an idea of what you would do if your car breaks down or your electricity cuts out. However, many organisations of all sizes have no plan to recover from an IT disaster.
This can result in lost productivity or, in the worst-case scenario, an existential threat to your entire company.
Financial Losses
As mentioned above, the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation & Technology found that medium to large businesses lost an average of £10,830 each during the “single most disruptive breach” they had suffered in the previous 12 months.
Yet only 22% of all businesses surveyed said they had a formal incident response plan in place, rising to 55% of medium-sized companies and 73% of large corporations—that’s still less than three-quarters.
Reputational Damage
A lack of a rigorous disaster recovery plan for IT company systems can have a significant negative impact on PR and public perception of your brand.
In many cases, customers will choose to move their data elsewhere following a breach or will reduce the level of trust they put in your business.
Compliance and Enforcement
Avoidable data breaches are not looked upon favourably by regulators, including the Information Commissioner’s Office, which may launch an investigation following a hack or leak of any size.
Enforcement action can range from fines to removing regulatory authorisations, which could leave your business unable to operate in a particular sector due to a lack of compliance with data protection rules.
What does the procedure look like?
There’s a clear business case for detailed IT business continuity and disaster recovery planning, but what is the actual process involved?
Risk Assessment and Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
First, a comprehensive cyber security risk assessment is carried out to determine the incidents you are most likely to face and those that are less likely but high-impact.
At this stage, we are identifying the hardware, software, data and communications you use so that we can ensure that they are all properly protected going forward.
Data Backup and Recovery
Offsite data backup is a core element in IT disaster recovery management. It reduces the risk of losing sensitive data and, equally importantly, accelerates the speed of getting your systems up and running.
We can also conduct a Dark Web check to ensure none of your usernames and passwords have been leaked, which again reduces the chances of your files falling into the wrong hands.
Secure Communication Plan
In a connected world, data needs to be transferred – especially if you have multiple branch offices and/or a hybrid workforce.
We will put in place an efficient and secure communication plan so that your workforce can stay in touch and collaborate on files without exposing them to unnecessary external risks.
Penetration Testing
The best way to verify that a system is secure is to try to hack it. Once your disaster recovery plan is in place, we will simulate attacks and other incidents to test that it works as planned.
As it’s just a simulation, all of this is done without risking your data. This means we can identify any remaining vulnerabilities and date your business continuity plan to factor them in.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any remaining questions, please contact us and ask. We’ll be happy to help. Here are a few of the disaster recovery FAQs we get asked most often:
What is the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery?
The two are closely related. Business continuity ensures your organisation can continue functioning during an emergency, whereas disaster recovery is coordinating the response and minimising losses.
You can find much more detail about the similarities and differences between the two in our Business Continuity vs Disaster Recovery infographic.
How often should I update my disaster recovery plan?
It’s important to review your disaster recovery plan regularly, even if you don’t update it. We recommend doing this annually at the very least and often for larger firms or if your data is at the core of your profit-making activities.
We can put in place a schedule to audit and update your disaster recovery plan on a quarterly or monthly basis if needed – we’re here for you as often as you need us.
How easy is it to create a disaster recovery plan?
A good disaster recovery plan should be fully comprehensive and based on a rigorous audit of your systems, including hardware, software, network security, and staff cyber security awareness training.
Many firms of all sizes choose to outsource disaster recovery to benefit from specialist IT consultancy expertise. If you’re in any doubt about how to create a disaster recovery plan, it’s best left to the experts.
Does my business need an IT disaster recovery procedure?
If your business productivity, revenue or profit depends on computers, data, the internet, or even IP-based phone calls in any way, it’s important to get a disaster recovery audit carried out.
Your disaster recovery plan might not need to be complex – just some remote backup and a 24/7 emergency number to call in case of an outage – or it might involve installing cyber security software to thousands of workstations.
Ultimately, it’s about getting the IT disaster recovery procedure you need. But if you rely on IT to conduct business, you should definitely have a plan in place.
