The recent string of tornados that ripped through Oklahoma should remind business owners of the repercussions that can occur with catastrophic data loss. According to The Underwriting Guide for Insurers, only six percent of medium-size companies that suffer catastrophic data loss ever fully recover. More than 43 percent never reopen, and 51 percent close within two years of the disaster. 


When one considers the degree to which most businesses rely on electronic data for their operations, one quickly understands the devastating consequences of a catastrophe such as a tornado, flood or earthquake. A business could lose everything, from its customer database to it’s sales records, payroll info, inventory numbers, and financials.

A study conducted by the National Archives & Records Administration in Washington discovered U.S. businesses lose more than $12 billion per year because of data loss. It can take an average of 20 days and cost $18,000 just to retype 20 megabytes of sales and accounting data.

Unfortunately, data loss is a relatively common occurrence. Hard drives die, and even automated backups sometimes fail to archive every single file correctly. Data loss becomes catastrophic when a sizeable or vital set of data becomes unrecoverable.

Every business should have a contingency plan in place to protect against catastrophic data loss. He says, the person in charge of contingency planning must act professionally, rationally and efficiently in the worst of times.

Of course, businesses shouldn’t place all their eggs in one basket and rely on their IT team to save the day in wake of a disaster. Rather, companies should take a few preventative measures to ensure their data is recoverable after the catastrophe.

The steps to safeguard against data loss require a two-pronged approach. First, business owners need to have an effective and automated backup system that secures and protects all data. Manual back-ups are insufficient, as businesses often forget to do them and they often do them improperly. It's best to have a solution that backs up automatically in real-time and stores a copy to the cloud. These back-ups should be tested once every quarter to ensure they’re working properly.

We recommend companies follow the ‘three-two-one rule." Businesses should have three copies of their data on two different media, one of which is off-site. This added level of security will certainly pay off if a disaster strikes.

The second prong—one that a shocking number of businesses overlook— is having a reliable, effective, and tested disaster recovery (DR) plan in place. Merely having a backup copy of business data won’t do much good if no one knows how to restore it to the server. An effective DR plan should include written procedures for restoring data that minimizes the risk of corrupting the system any further. It should also include a “chain of command” that details which employees are authorized to implement the DR plan, and under what circumstances. 


The disaster recovery plan should cover all the bases. Procedures that may seem obvious such as finding a power outlet or locating a Wi-Fi hot spot need to be detailed within the document. Not only do these procedures vary from business to business, but variables such as companies with multiple offices, remote workers or virtual offices make it even more critical. Employees will feel more secure if given specific direction on how to proceed before and after disasters.

In the event an office is damaged or inaccessible during or after a disaster, cloud computing is vital to ensuring a business is able to operate off-site. Businesses can simply load their data stored in the cloud onto a remote virtualized server. However, prior to installing and configuring the cloud, it is critical that businesses choose the right cloud solution for their business.

It is important to select cloud-computing solutions that are housed in credible data centers that offer an adequate level of protection and security. In addition to checking to ensure the cloud is secure and complies with appropriate standards, it is also important for businesses to choose the right type of cloud for their business needs. Whether it’s a private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, or community cloud, this step is vital in ensuring your data is stored securely.

These safety measures will minimize disruption to a business in the wake of a catastrophic event such as a fire, flood, or earthquake. However, the key to such safeguards lies in having these measures in place before a disaster strikes.