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Data Loss Risk Reduction – Counting The Cost

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comment 
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Data loss emergencies can hit any business without any prior indication of a potential problem. Sometimes data loss issues can be nothing more than a business hiccup and not to much data is lost, or the lost data can quickly be reworked  to get the situation back to normal. Conversely though large data loss scenarios can have an devastating effect on a business and the more employees they have or the more reliant they are on their IT infrastructure, then the bigger the problem.

If a main raid server has gone down and this is used to house the company’s customer relationship management software then quite literally business can stop , especially if the CRM system is principally used for sales or the company employs a large sales force.

The effect will of course impact larger companies more than smaller organisations but the effect of data loss can still be quite devastating none the less.

If the business has had the forethought to put a disaster recovery plan in place then this can be quickly be implemented to get your business into action but if you do not have one, or have completed you business continuity plan but have simply not implemented yet then the effect of the data loss can be quite far reaching.

The net effect of a data loss emergency can simply cost thousands and for large corporations tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands. The actual cost will course depend on the type of business involved and costs can be both tangible or intangible for example: the cost of lost sales can be easily measured by comparing a previous days trading.

This can give very clear indicators as to potential revenue loss versus business down time and business continuity investment. For many organisations the loss of a days sales could have a very impact on cash flow and for larger companies potential loss could have an even greater effect.

Cost of lost sales is only one of the aspects that can be measured but other costs need to be taken into consideration as well many of which can be swept under the table if not factored. These could include the actual cost of employing a data recovery company in the first place or even punitive fines for missing contractual deadlines depending on what industry your business is in.

As well as the tangible costs intangible costs also need to be considered which could include the loss of potential clients or business credibility, the management overhead needed to get the business back on line again and the cost of manual data entry from paper records (if they are held) to populate the database once it has been restored or the server has been re-built.

Another critical factor that should never be overlooked in the event of a data emergency is the restoration of the data. In many cases data can be irrevocably lost due to bungled attempts at recovery by inexperienced IT technicians.

Also if you are employing the services of one of the  data recovery companies you need to check their potential methodology and ensure they will not work on the actual donor disks as it is crucial to keep the main data source intact at all times.

Specialist business continuity providers will have strict protocols in place to ensure the absolute integrity of the source data. Working on the original data hard drives should simply not be an option because if the file structure or data is compromised in any way then your business could experience total data loss.

For memory stick recovery help visit the IT support Manchester website.

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