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Are You Happy With The ROI of Your Information Technology Person/Team/Provider?
/in Blog /by lindsayOne of our clients (for the sake of privacy we’ll call them Acme Distribution) started with a “break-fix” IT strategy. Acme had computer equipment, a network and some knowledge about how to fix simple issues (resetting passwords, adding a user, etc.).
However, when more complex issues came up (e-mail not working, printers not printing, hardware failures, viruses and network issues), Acme paid service providers to fix those issues. Some months the cost was minimal. Some months the cost was tens of thousands of dollars.
One month a relatively new computer virus cost the company $28,000 because all but a few computers were infected, including their server. Their systems were down for 3 days and only partially working for 3 more days. The costs of system downtime, lost productivity and customer dissatisfaction was in addition to the $28,000 in fees paid to fix the problem. Acme estimated their total cost for this incident was more than $70,000.
There is a Better Way– But Beware!
Acme wanted to find a way for their IT expenses to be stable and predictable. They looked into managed services contracts. They interviewed three companies and entered into an agreement with a provider at what they thought was a reasonable price.
Unfortunately, what they found out was that managed services providers provide two levels of service. In the fine print of their agreement, they discovered they had entered into a network “monitoring” agreement.
Acme’s provider “monitored” their network and provided support up to five hours per month. In the third month of their agreement, after a problem that involved both hardware and a network problem, Acme received an invoice for $18,134 for support above and beyond their “fixed price” agreement.
Beware of the low-priced managed services “monitoring” agreement.
In the following few months, Acme considered hiring two IT employees because they believed it might be less expensive than paying an outside provider. However, they soon realized that their internal solution would be expensive and limited to the knowledge of their two IT employees.
Acme’s CFO attended a webinar about managed services agreements that were truly flat fee, no-surprises agreements. He asked for a proposal and experienced sticker shock when reviewing the proposal. The agreement included everything including hardware replacement for a flat monthly fee – guaranteed.
As he read the proposal, he was shocked to discover that the network assessment done on their IT systems by the professional level managed services provider showed:
• Out of date virus software
• a Trojan horse virus that had given hackers remote access to their accounting system.
• 4 viruses (not yet active) that got into the network by employees copying files from flash drives
• Three network hard drives that were sending alerts about their imminent failure (all at least five years old)
• a cloud-backup solution that had stopped working
If there was any good news, Acme was lucky their system had not (yet) been attacked by ransomware. Ransomware locks and encrypts the company’s data and then demands payment to unlock and decrypt the data.
In the end, after adding up all the costs, lost productivity, risks and likely future issues/costs, Acme found that an all-inclusive, flat fee professional level managed services agreement was far less expensive than any other solution. In addition, it’s a much better solution than relying on the current knowledge of two IT employees with limited knowledge.
Consider your options:
• With “break-fix” agreements, you get low cost, but you take all the risks
• With a “monitoring” agreement, it’s no different than the CHECK ENGINE light on your car’s dashboard
• When you consider:
o the risks, potential downtime, data loss and lost productivity
o along with the assurance that you IT system is always protected and up to date
o AND the peace of mind you’ll have instead of wondering what will go wrong next
a fixed price, no surprises managed services agreement is probably the most cost effective route to go.
If you’re interested in exploring your options, contact us. We would be happy to help.
Natural Disasters and Data Recovery Plans
/in Blog /by lindsayWe don’t want to think about possible negative situations when it comes to our lives or our businesses. Planning for disasters means that we’re able to quickly recover from their consequences. In our previous blogs on data disaster recovery, we’ve covered how to plan for disasters and what types of disasters to consider when writing a data recovery plan. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the main points as a refresher.
The key elements of data recovery plans
A good disaster recovery plan will have assigned roles and responsibilities to different team members in advance. Planning ahead should ensure there is no time wasted when a disaster occurs. Having clearly defined roles means that team members can get on with their tasks quickly to mitigate the effects of a disaster.
Another important point is the identification of which assets are critical to operating the business. In a disaster, you need to know which things to protect and sort out first to enable business operations to continue. If someone spends too much time dealing with a puddle on the floor instead of dealing with customer calls, for example, your business could be in turmoil.
Backing up data is a must for every business. You’re on a dangerous path if you don’t have a plan in place for regular data backups. After all, you can’t recover your data after a disaster if you haven’t backed it up. Businesses must also consider whether they need to back up their IT infrastructure using a ‘cold site’ (a basic version of their infrastructure off-premises) or a ‘hot site’ (up-to-date data backups). As you can guess, the more data you back up, the better off you’ll be.
Types of disasters to plan for
It’s difficult to plan for any eventuality; however, there are certain things that all businesses should consider.
Disasters can include technological disasters like:
• Data breaches
• Hacking
• Ransomware
Or natural disasters like:
• Earthquakes
• Tsunamis
• Volcanoes
• Flooding
• Tornados
• Pandemics
The impacts of any of these disasters are huge. Essentially, they can result in a business completely folding. Depending on the type of disaster, there could be all sorts of consequences. For example, the loss of supply chains, loss of assets and buildings, loss of life or personnel, and the loss of data. Since these consequences can be disastrous, it’s important for all businesses, regardless of size, to have contingency plans for disasters.
Planning for disasters
Businesses need to have contingency plans for dealing with disasters of every possible type. Different companies will, of course, have different needs. However, some things are necessary for all businesses to include in their data recovery strategy plan. These include data, insurance, finances, resources, personnel, technology, compliance requirements, and the supply chain.
Types of disaster data recovery
There are a variety of options when it comes to data recovery. Perhaps the simplest method is backup. Your data is stored on or off-premises, or both for extra safety. However, relying solely on data backup gives minimal protection for businesses. If there is no backup of the IT infrastructure as well, there could be even bigger issues.
An effective data recovery plan needs strategies and procedures for backups. You should know who will perform the backups and how often they will be done. Those responsible for data backups must also work out the business’s recovery time. Calculate the amount of time the organization can be ‘down’ after a disaster and work from there.
The data recovery strategy should be tested and updated continually to protect the business from new threats. In this way, the business will be able to navigate challenges successfully. Planning a response to a cyberattack ahead of time will make sure your team will know what to do.
Final thoughts
Whatever your business and size, the ultimate aim is to ensure you’re well protected and have plans in place for any type of disaster. If you’re struggling to finalize your plans or even start writing one, get in touch with us for a free consultation.
Do You Have A Data Recovery Plan?
/in Blog /by lindsayYou might be aware that disasters of varying types can have devastating consequences on businesses. The key to mitigating such occurrences is to have a data recovery strategy plan in place. This means that you have a structured and documented approach detailing how your organization can resume work quickly after an unforeseen disaster. This is an essential tool for your company’s continuity plan and applies to all parts of the organization that is dependent on your IT infrastructure. This data recovery plan will help you resolve any data loss and will allow the recovery of your system’s functionality. This means that you can continue operating your business with minimal disruption.
Types of Disasters to consider
Potential disasters are plentiful. We’re not just talking about hacking and data breaches, but natural disasters too. Being able to handle disasters efficiently means there will be minimal impact financially. Having a data recovery strategy plan will allow you to ensure that all requirements for compliance are met. The plan will also provide a clear recovery roadmap. Here are some of the potential disasters that might affect your businesses:
• Building disaster (Fire, power outage, etc.)
• Communication failure (Due to data breach, hacking or natural disaster)
• Application failure (Outdated hardware, viruses, etc.)
• Datacenter disaster (Hacking, data breach, natural disaster)
• City disaster (Earthquake, tornado, flood, etc.)
• Regional disaster (Power grid outage, wildfires, etc.)
• National disaster (Epidemic)
• Multinational disaster (Pandemic, computer viruses, ransomware)
You can see that this list covers lots of different types of disasters. It’s worth noting, however, that it’s not exhaustive. When making data recovery strategy plans, businesses need to consider their potential individual circumstances. If you’re based in the Midwest, for example, it’s very unlikely that your business will be affected by a volcanic eruption. But there are other natural disasters like floods or tornados that are more likely to happen. With that said, the 2010 Iceland volcanic eruption had repercussions worldwide, so you never know!
Considerations for your Data Recovery Plan
A data recovery strategy plan should begin at the business level. You need to determine what infrastructure is most important to your organization. The plan should implement an RTO (a recovery time objective), which describes how much time each application could be down for as a target.
A data recovery strategy defines your business’s plan for incident response. To determine your optimal data recovery strategy, you must consider the following issues:
• Resources (both facilities and personnel)
• Finances
• Insurance
• Data
• Technology
• Risks
• Compliance requirements
• The supply chain
How to write a Data Recovery Strategy Plan
A business can start its plan by prioritizing a list of contacts and vital software programs so that the most important information is easily and quickly accessible.
The data recovery plan should define each team member’s role and responsibilities in the recovery process. This is so there is no panic or time wasted should an unexpected disaster occur.
There are many important points to write into a data recovery plan. These include:
• A policy statement or statement of intent.
• Specific tasks assigned to staff.
• Goals of the plan.
• Passwords and other authentication tools essential to data recovery.
• Geographical factors and risks appropriate to the local, regional or national area.
• Advice on dealing with the media.
• Legal and financial information with points of action.
A history of the plan – and any amendments that have been made to it.
As you can see, being prepared for these events is not difficult, but it will take some time. It is, however, very important that you take the time to complete it. You should also run through the plan in a mock rehearsal. That way you’ll find out if you’ve missed any steps or if there are gaps in your plan.
The bottom line is, you want to be as prepared as possible for any disaster that causes data loss. After all, keeping your doors open when other’s can’t sure makes you the popular choice over your competitors.
If you need advice or want help to build your data recovery strategy plan, don’t hesitate to contact us. You can book a consultation at any time.