Agility Recovery Solutions has announced the release of its latest market analysis of Small to Medium Businesses (SMB’s), conducted in tandem with Hughes Marketing Group, titled, ‘2009 Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Survey,’ which finds that most SMB’s are majorly underprepared for disasters and misled by existing data backup plans.
“A data backup plan is not the same as a disaster recovery plan,” said Bob Boyd, Chief Executive of Agility Recovery. “The best data in the world is useless if you can’t make use of it. Businesses must take measures to ensure employees can return to work immediately after a disaster. Without alternate plans, your business will pay the ultimate price.”
Disasters that affect Information Technology failure, communications networks and data access fall in to different categories: 1) IT systems comprehensively crash due to irreversible equipment failure or malicious software attacks. 2) Pandemic spreads, such as the current threat caused by HINI or Swine Flu, that prevent people from accessing office-based data because of restricted movement in case they catch the bio virus. 3) Natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, Terror attacks such as the Twin Towers going down. 4) War – maybe of a nuclear type; and, 4) possible meteor pounding from outer space.
In the aftermath of the disasters caused by Hurricane Katrina and the twin towers going down, TMCnet has reported earlier, citizens as well as the government identified interoperable emergency communications on a National scale were the topmost priority since people had methods to communicate, but could not due to technological incompatibility.
Irrespective of the type of disaster, claim company sources, “Agility will deliver the power, technology, space and, or connectivity elements needed to recover.”
Officials at the company claim that they surveyed more than 700 SMB owners and executives over the length and breadth of North America and found that existing data plans have induced a false sense of security.
The company justifies its cut and dried analysis with the following stats: 94 percent of respondents have formal data backup plans; 75 percent of respondents genuinely believe that they can have their employees back to work within days of a disaster, of which only 28 percent have access to alternative office space, 41 percent have access to mobile office space, 57 percent have access to power generators, and 54 percent could acquire temporary office equipment but allegedly have no ready or pipeline contingency contract ready.
Agility Recovery says that SMB’s are underprepared for disasters because some stats revealed that 90 percent of companies with less than 100 employees responded that they spend less than one day per month maintaining their continuity plans, and 22 percent spend no time maintaining their plans. By comparison, 20 percent companies with more than 100 employees spend more than 10 days per month on their continuity plans.
Company officials claim that the “saying the right thing” malady appears prevalent in SMB’s because while 67 percent of respondents feel an effective business continuity plan is paramount to company success, nearly 50 percent believe their company’s corporate level management team do not feel the same way and are hesitant to express opinions for fear of falling out of favour.
The U.S. federal government’s National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan, a TMCnet report says, highlights the significant advantages of using telecommunications and broadband connectivity related solutions to continue working remotely and avoid physical proximity, and therefore slow down the disease spread.
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