Data Backups and Recovery are business critical to protect against data loss or hardware failure. But many SBA’s don’t have a plan in place that defines the steps that must be taken to get their business back up and running when disaster strikes. Here are a few important questions you need to ask your IT service provider when building your disaster recovery plan.

Are your backups optimal ?

There are several types of backup solutions ranging from simple file backups to high-end devices that copy entire servers complete with their operating systems, applications, and configurations.

Are your backups current?

There is a huge difference in the impact to your business between an hour’s worth of lost work and a week’s worth. Small and medium sized business planning should include detailed information about how much work will be lost in the event of a failure, what associated costs will be, and how often your backups are scheduled to be updated.

Have your backups and recovery been tested ?

After all, your backups are only worthwhile if the data can be recovered. A Disaster Recovery Plan should include a schedule for verifying the integrity of your backups on a regular basis.

What happens if a server fails ?

Your backups must include a full image of the operating system and all software on the server. If you only have file backups, the server will need to be rebuilt from scratch. A Disaster Recovery Plan should include lists of all the software and configuration items that are needed to get each server back up and running. Simplistic IT Solutions can collect all of this information with automated systems and define a step-by-step plan for rebuilding your network infrastructure in the event of an emergency. Having the tools in place is great — but knowing how to use them is vital to success and business continuity. Call us at 972.416.1415 (office) or 855.211.1415 (toll free) to learn more about how we can help you with your Dallas data backup and recovery needs today!