What is BCDR? (+Why Businesses Need It)

It seems like every other month, we read news about yet another cybersecurity breach. One major company or another has to notify their customers that their data may have been compromised. In a best case scenario, a customer may not ever hear about it again. But on the other side of the coin lies violations of privacy and identity theft.

Then there’s also the fact that whenever there’s a security threat, business operations are interrupted. Instead of conducting job duties as usual, all hands are on deck putting out fires and attempting to control the damage. 

To add insult to injury, sometimes problems aren’t even caused by a third party malfeasor; but by a natural disaster—floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes. Take your pick based on your geographical location. 

No matter your industry, you could be exposed to security threats or data loss. Therefore, it behooves you to have a robust BCDR plan, and to thoroughly train your employees on how to implement it. 

What Is BCDR?

BCDR stands for business continuity and disaster recovery. When orchestrated successfully, your business can carry on its responsibilities with minimal disruption. In essence, it means: 

• Continuing to offer services
• Complying with industry security regulations
• Protecting customers sensitive information
• Protecting the integrity of your business’ reputation
• Ensuring your ability to continue to generate revenue

In a nutshell, having an effective BCDR plan is crucial for businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. 

Difference Between Backups and Disaster Recovery

The terms backup and disaster recovery have become buzzwords. Everyone will acknowledge that they’re important, but few actually take the time to understand the distinctions and nuances, and of the benefits of having a plan for both of them. 

Backing up your data means exactly that—having additional copies of your information in case a portion of it is lost. This could be due to malware, ransomware, technical issues, human error, or theft. As a result, you can restore it should the need arise. You can also keep the information as archives; especially when some industry regulations require keeping data for a specific period of time after using it (such as with patient records, legal files, or tax information). 

Disaster recovery (DR) refers to setting up a process for dealing with a disaster interrupting operations. Say, for example, that there’s a power outage in your location. Having your team not work anymore for the rest of the day (or days) could be detrimental to your clients, patients, customers, and maybe even your ability to keep your business afloat. 

The problem becomes even more serious if you offer essential services, such as at a hospital or fire department. Having a DR plan sets up your tech infrastructure to continue running when there are unforeseen circumstances, from natural disasters, to cyber attacks. 

For example, let’s say that malware spreads throughout your entire system. Your network is now down, and business operations are disrupted. Even worse, the malware could’ve even infected your backups. Now what? 

Modern disaster recovery plans can be automated. It can continuously monitor your systems, assess risks, identify issues, and intervene before there’s a service interruption. And even in the event of such disruption, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solutions can protect essential servers in real time. 

Benefits of BCDR Over Simple Backups

It’s always a good idea to back up your work. Since we no longer live in the age of diskettes and thumb drives, it’s more practical to use cloud-based services that automatically save work, such as Google Docs, Zoho Docs, or Collabora, to name a few. 

However, although such alternatives do ensure that your teams can work from wherever they’re located and that work is saved, they do nothing to ensure your business continuity in the event of a network failure. For that, you’ll want to strongly consider fully managed IT services. Doing so will bring you the peace of mind that comes with knowing that highly skilled IT professionals are taking care of your cybersecurity, data backup, and disaster recovery. 

7 Risks That BCDR Helps Businesses Overcome

There are many scenarios that could cause your data to become compromised. Having a good BCDR plan in place—and testing it periodically—will help protect your business against common threats, including: 

1. Ransomware

If you’ve been ignoring the news for a while now, ransomware involves blocking access to your business data until you pay the malfeasor their requested amount of money. This can be devastating for small businesses; but even if you do have extra funds, given that you’re communicating with a criminal, it isn’t even assured that you will indeed get your data back after paying the ransom. 

2. Negligence

Negligence can happen for many reasons—a lack of proper training for employees, them being too busy multitasking, or simply failing to comply with one’s job responsibilities. When it affects your access to data, there’s no time to figure out what caused it. You just want to fix it, ASAP. There will be time later to prevent it from happening again. Having a BCDR plan can save you a lot of time and anxiety. 

3. Accidental Deletion

Sometimes, accidents happen. Maybe someone fell victim to a phishing scam, installed corrupted software, overwrote old work, or saved data elsewhere to free up storage space. No matter the cause, even despite installing two-step deleting processes, it’s possible for a user to unintentionally get rid of data. 

4. Natural Disasters 

Florida residents are fairly familiar with hurricanes. Those in Puerto Rico deal with power outages on a regular basis. California is no stranger to wildfires. Yet, no matter the risks associated with where you live, you still have a business to run. You can’t prevent natural disasters, but it’s crucial to have a BCDR plan to prevent this from dealing your business with hard blows or forcing you to close your doors.

5. Hardware Failure

Sometimes the issue isn’t caused by anyone. Hardware can malfunction for multiple reasons: Overheating, CMOS errors, or blank monitors, to name a few. No matter the reason, it can have dire consequences for your business. In fact, this is one of the most common reasons for data loss. 

6. Cyber Attacks

Cyber attacks exist for many reasons: Wanting to steal information, expose it to competitors or the media, steal identities, commit fraud, or destroy databases. Sometimes, they’re obvious as soon as they occur; while other times, malware can remain within your network for days, weeks, or months undetected. So you have to plan ahead so that you can always be ready with a proactive approach. 

7. Theft

Many office employees now work remotely. They can log in from their home, favorite coffee shop, airports, or at a dealership while getting their car serviced. While years ago employee theft typically occurred in office buildings, now you also have to be mindful of misplaced laptops or any other tech devices left temporarily unattended. BCDR can help you recover stolen data before it becomes an issue. 

A final note: While BCDR is imperative for any business, remember that there is only so much a managed service provider (MSP) can do. You still have to develop processes and train your teams well (and provide continuous education). MSPs can then take care of the technology. Prioritizing all of these elements is what will ultimately help you protect your data and minimize business downtime. 

Protect Your Business with BCDR Services from IT Proactive

Ready to get started on your business continuity and disaster recovery plans? Contact us. We offer fully managed all-inclusive IT services provided by highly skilled technicians, and with budget-friendly monthly costs. And if you already have an IT team, we can provide them with additional insights and support.