A Guide to Disaster Recovery Software

Disaster recovery software is swiftly becoming an integral tool for numerous businesses. We all know that, unfortunately, disaster can hit at any moment. So, in case the worst does happen, it is important to be prepared and have a disaster recovery plan in place for your IT infrastructure. 

If you are unsure where to begin with implementing a disaster recovery solution, this guide is for you.

One disaster recovery solution we recommend is the Mataco™ business continuity software system. This cloud disaster recovery tool is designed to be used across multiple devices for fast recovery times and access no matter your location. It’s the perfect addition to your business continuity plans.

What is Disaster Recovery software?

Disaster recovery software is a continuous data protection solution that ensures businesses can continue their practices and functions despite disasters. Traditionally, disaster recovery software has been designed as a replication of your physical servers in an on-premises data centre – with potentially an off-premise backup option for an extra layer of security.

However, nowadays, most disaster recovery software uses cloud storage so that instant recovery is accessible and available from anywhere. This is especially true given the ever-increasing importance of IT solutions as remote and hybrid solutions to working are becoming the norm.

Disaster recovery software is part of the solution to a business’ continuity plans and has two main objectives:

• Recovery time objective (RTO) – The shortest recovery time it should take your business to get back to regular operating.
• Recovery point objective (RPO) – The maximum amount of data your business can afford to lose before it becomes critical. The RPO is also measured in time – more often than not, the instant your disaster strikes from your last reliable backup.

Your RTO and RPO should be achievable for your specific business whilst also taking into consideration the needs and expectations of your customers.  Savant specialises in bespoke database and software development that can help your business run effectively and efficiently.

What kind of disasters should your business prepare for?

There are numerous types of disasters that businesses can face – however, they typically fall into three categories:

• Man-made – material spills, cyber attacks, weapon threats
• Technological – power failure, explosions, infrastructure failure
• Natural – floods, hurricanes, earthquakes

Ideally, businesses will have disaster recovery strategies for all types of disasters, no matter their cause. 

The importance of Disaster Recovery System

The day-to-day running of a business relies on a range of files and servers. If you experience a disaster that causes an outage and halts your daily operations, it can have catastrophic impacts on your business.  No matter what sized organisation, disaster recovery software can help you effectively respond to situations so you can get back on track as soon as possible. 

The advantages include :

Reducing unforeseen costs

No one can accurately know the total cost of a disaster they cannot foresee. Disaster recovery software could reduce, or even prevent, the additional costs of undoing the effects of a catastrophe in your business.

Secure the continuity of your business

We can all imagine the disturbances that could occur from a disaster. The limited access to essential data, files and tools could have a negative effect on your customers. By using disaster recovery software, your backup recovery should allow you to get back to regular ways of working sooner rather than later.

Boost the security of your systems

By implementing disaster recovery software, you can restrict the effects that ransomware attacks, cyber attacks and other disasters can have on your business applications. This gives you peace of mind that your business is at less risk from security breaches. 

Maintain customer retention

Customers who feel violated by businesses due to the compromising or total loss of their data are unlikely to continue with you. Disaster recovery backup solutions mean you have comprehensive data protection so you can ensure you keep your customers’ trust. This will likely prevent them from taking their business to your competitors.  Your adoption of disaster recovery software can be used as a USP to attract new customers.

Why your business should implement a recovery program

We all understand that disasters, can happen, but do we really understand the implications of such events on businesses?  According to Uptime Institute’s 2022 Global Data Centre Survey, power outages that cause critical workloads to go down are reducing overall but are still extremely high – 60% of operators reported an outage in the last three years. Two thirds of these operators reported that the outages cost them more than $100,000.  Investing in disaster recovery software, such as Savant’s Mataco, is the ideal solution to ensure reliable recovery.

Why a cloud-first approach is the best method for flexible Disaster Recovery

When disaster recovery planning, most businesses discover their main weakness is their hardware.  On-site or physical backup services can be the cause of multiple issues to businesses, including:

• Having a secondary data centre for your backup storage usually comes with an extra cost of ownership for the additional location.

• If there is no secondary data centre, you will likely need extra protection for physical management solutions against natural disasters.
• Often, hardware needs to be backed up frequently. This requires resources that some businesses simply may not have.
• These regular backups also take a lot of time and during these backups, your critical applications are at high risk.
• If you do work in a remote or hybrid environment, any physical hardware may not be able to be integrated into a cloud data centre. This could exclude some files and servers from being protected, putting some of your critical systems, and your business continuity solution, at risk.

Savant’s Mataco is a user-friendly data recovery tool that utilises cloud services to protect your business-critical systems from disaster.  By opting for cloud environments to house your critical applications, you are ensuring the long-term growth of your business that can scale with you.

What to include in your Disaster Recovery plan

The aim of a recovery plan is to document the actions required before, during and after a disaster. Your plan should tackle all types of disaster, no matter how they started. Plus, it should be comprehensive enough for any member of your team to implement the necessary steps to getting your business operating as normal as soon as possible. 

Identify key personnel 

A disaster recovery plan should have people assigned to each aspect of the plan so it runs as smoothly as possible. These people should understand how to communicate with the wider team to ensure your business can return to daily operations fast. 

Savant’s Mataco is your Disaster Recovery software solution

Mataco is a cloud-based software system that allows you to recover your IT infrastructure at an excellent speed. It offers you flexible recovery options as it is available for tablet, smartphone and desktop PCs. With more than 30 years of experience in advanced business solutions and systems, trust in Savant for reliable recovery. 

Contact us today via the form or call 01524 784400 to find out more about Mataco.

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