Natural disasters may strike any place and at any time, and they occur all too often. Hurricane Sandy, 2015’s extensive flooding in the Southern United States, and, most recently, the wildfires in Fort McMurray all serve as reminders of what may happen to anyone, and to any business. Just as all individuals and families should have an emergency plan in case a natural disaster strikes, all businesses should have a disaster recovery plan in place. Thankfully, the cloud makes creating a disaster recovery plan easy and simple.
Many Businesses Don’t Have Disaster Recovery Plans
Data from Claims Journal shows that 75 percent of businesses lack a disaster recovery plan, or a set of steps to help them resume critical operations as soon as possible after a disaster. Without a backup recovery plan in place, businesses can stand to lose thousands of dollars — $300,000 per hour on average, according to NextDC— and they have no way to:
- Retrieve lost data
- Ensure that sensitive data remains secure
- Continue regular business operations
Additionally, businesses may also risk missing orders and failing to answer customer inquiries if they don’t have access to relevant customer information and purchase history. While customers are generally understanding when a business is affected by a natural disaster, failing to resume operations promptly, leaving orders unfulfilled and questions unanswered, may tarnish a company’s reputation.
There are many reasons why businesses delay creating a disaster recovery plan or neglect to altogether. The recent wildfires in Alberta, however, serve as only one of many reminders that disasters may strike any company, at any time and in any place. All businesses need to be prepared for the worst.
The Cloud Makes Creating Disaster Recovery Plans Easy
Thanks to the cloud, creating disaster recovery plans has never been easier. With cloud-based solutions, businesses can:
- Backup data remotely so that it’s protected even in the event of a natural disaster
- Quickly access data from anywhere, at any time, using any device that has an internet connection
- Securely store, send and use sensitive data while remaining in compliance with regulations
- Run applications remotely if there aren’t powerful enough computers locally available after a disaster
Best of all, a cloud-based disaster recovery plan is nearly automatic once it’s set up. Data can be backed up at regular intervals or anytime a file is updated, and it’s all stored on a provider’s secure servers. The data backup provider takes care of creating backups and ensuring they’re safeguarded. If they’re ever needed, the provider will also make sure they’re readily available.
The Microsoft Azure Cloud is a Leader in Disaster Recovery
Among the available cloud-based disaster recovery solutions, the Microsoft Azure Cloud stands out. The Microsoft Azure Cloud is right for many businesses, because it is:
- Scalable, so businesses can pay for as much or as little data backup as they need
- Secure, as Microsoft provides user access management, encryption, secure networks and threat management
- Certified, meeting over 30 specific compliance and certification requirements in different industries and countries
- Accessible, supporting more operating systems, programming languages, tools, frameworks, databases and devices than any other solution
- Remote, so businesses can access data and run apps from anywhere with an internet connection
- Vast, with data centers in more countries and regions than both Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services combined
Most importantly, the Microsoft Azure Cloud is trusted — by many businesses. To see why small and large businesses throughout the country and all over the world rely on the Microsoft Azure Cloud as their data recovery plan, contact us at (905) 907-3600. We’d be happy to show you what the cloud can do for companies, and to help you set up a hassle-free yet reliable disaster recovery plan with the Microsoft Azure Cloud.