The Economics of Disaster

---

Failure to develop a foolproof data loss prevention strategy could end up jeopardizing the company's data, profits, and future survival. After all, how much does downtime cost per user per day? Now multiply that by the number of employees and by the several weeks it might take to recover lost data. What about the lost sales, customers, and business or the cost of wages of all those employees unable to perform valuable work? Also consider catching up with the inevitable backlog when the system is running again — how much does that cost? The simple truth is that the potential costs of a disaster dwarf the price tag for even the most sophisticated DRP programs. Although events since September 11, 2001, have greatly accelerated the awareness of organizations regarding DRP, a surprising number still have not gotten around to actually addressing the problem. They still cling to the unrealistic hope that backup and RAID are enough. Obviously, backup is a key component of any strategy, yet many companies seek to cut corners by having redundant systems within the same building or next door. Case in point: Some companies within the World Trade Center actually located their disaster facilities in another part of the WTC. The moral of the story: Keep multiple backups in several diverse locations.

I have used a Zip drive for years to back up my key files and archives. It sits on top of my computer and is very handy whenever I need to retrieve data. While it has served its purpose well, I realized a while back that it did not protect me against disaster. One fire or flood or other disaster, and both my PC and Zip drive could be destroyed simultaneously. I found myself an online backup service so I have a record of my data files offsite. Proximity, then, is a key factor in DRP. Disaster resources should be located away from the main offices to create actual redundancy of files and resources.

---