What does downtime really mean & what does it cost your business?
We asked this to the attendees of our recent webinar all focused on cyber-attacks, the associated downtime and the actual financial impact on a business.
Datto are our software partner in disaster recovery, and we were delighted to team up with them for this event.
Lorraine, our operations director opened the session with some key questions about cyber security and put our guest’s knowledge to the test. Following that, Adam from Datto took us through the definition of disaster recovery and business continuity and what is involved in having the right plan in place. He explained about ransomware attacks and how they infiltrate a business.
Our guests then saw a live ransomware attack in action and how easy it gets into a system and the extent of the damage it can do.
This specific attack was connected to someone receiving an email from what they thought was a legitimate source. Adam then demonstrated how quickly data can be back up and running when Datto is in place – it was less than 4 minutes!
A real showstopper in this event was the presentation of a downtime calculator. This gives a business owner the opportunity to clearly see the cost of downtime in real terms. We then looked at recovery point and recovery time objectives. It was evident that these factors are often either overlooked or simply not considered by many business owners, which is a worrying thought.
We asked our attendees if they were a victim of a ransomware attack, could they just turn their business back on? This is a key question that business owners need to be addressing regularly and to understand that attacks like ransomware are not just affecting the larger companies, this kind of attack is happening in small to medium sized businesses.
During the session we saw that if an attack took place there is usually a time lapse before the organisation realises that the attack has happened. It can then take days to restore data, how quickly could you get back to that point in time, and not have lost information?
This may seem a conundrum to many business owners but quite simply it is easily solved. If the right backup procedures are in place, and for that you need more than just a localised back up in the office each night!
Adam summarised by saying;
- Train your users in being cyber aware;
- Ensure there are multiple layers of security
- Ensure you have a business continuity solution
By 2022, 70% of businesses will have suffered a business disruption due to unrecoverable data loss in a cloud-based application.
The biggest threat to your system is human error so it is essential to mitigate against this. Which is why training is such a major part of your business continuity programme.
Having a system like Datto in place means your business can deal with interruptions and avoid downtime. We all know time is money so get in touch and have a look at what a difference Datto can make.
If you did not get the chance to come along but would like more information or a free demo give us a call on 0191 214 1750 or click here and download your own downtime calculator.
The cost of getting the right solutions and policies, far out ways the cost in downtime. Check out the calculator for yourself and see how it affects you and your business!
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask – contact us here