How Companies Are Lowering Data Storage Costs While Increasing Efficiency
While technology has enabled companies to cut costs in many areas, proper digital information storage comes at a price. However, most companies are paying more than necessary for data solutions, while at the same time getting less protection than they need to keep their data and their business protected from disasters.
How Lack of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning Can Cause Financial Disaster
Business continuity and disaster planning is an absolutely essential part of any business operation, yet many place a low priority on implementation. In the digital age, information technology is a fundamental function of any competitive company. From technology-driven companies to service companies and e-commerce businesses, information is the backbone that keeps today’s companies running competitively and efficiently.
The terms “business continuity planning and disaster recovery” imply the need for these critical business functions. Business owners realize the importance of these terms, but it is when they understand what lies within these processes that they realize that business continuity and disaster recovery planning are not just “important.” , are essential.
Financial impact of business continuity planning
As a result of government regulations, companies must maintain a continuity posture, whether they realize it or not. Critical applications must be continuously available or can be quickly recovered as required. Lack of knowledge or understanding of the laws is not a defense. Failure to comply can lead to lawsuits, violations, and fines that can weaken a business.
Achieving business continuity is not a “set it and forget it” task. The process usually begins with a BIA (business impact analysis), which, among other things, prioritizes different types of data. The BIA dictates what information will be stored, where and how often it is backed up.
If a company is to design business continuity structures on its own, it will need significant knowledge and resources to maintain. However, for companies that are not focused on technology or that choose not to add the expense of an in-house IT staff, there are practical and affordable outsourcing solutions, which we will cover later.
Financial impact of disaster recovery planning
According to a Garner Group study, 40 percent of companies that experience a catastrophic data event or significant downtime will never recover. Two out of every five companies that face these situations close their doors forever. This shocking statistic sheds light on how essential data management is to a business.
What’s even more surprising is that a relatively small amount of effort invested in a BIA coupled with business continuity and disaster recovery planning could have prevented the problem in the first place. The BIA would have discovered the impact of the process failure on the business and would have served as a discovery process to implement a plan designed to avoid risks.
Cost reduction through more efficient energy use
Once a company has addressed business continuity and disaster recovery planning by following the recommendations outlined in a BIA, it has taken the critical step to avoid potential financial devastation. The next step is to reduce the very real ongoing costs associated with maintaining data.
The cost of energy used to maintain data storage systems is quite significant. IT infrastructure not only consumes energy, but a significant amount of energy is used to maintain a safe climate for systems.
The best way to reduce the cost of maintaining data systems is to share the costs with others. By storing the systems in a data center location, you offset the cost of climate control by dividing that cost with others. Because the data center placement manages climate control to protect your machines, as well as others’ machines, many costs are shared that would otherwise be your sole responsibility if the machines were stored at home. Not only are energy costs shared, but also costs associated with human capital – the experts who maintain the data center colocation day after day.
Reduce personnel costs and raise the level of expertise
Staffing an IT department is expensive. Not only will employers need to staff a variety of people, each with varying skills, but they will also need someone to manage the team. To stay competitive, employers are expected to pay the bill for continuing education and training. And let’s not forget the system updates. However, by using managed IT services, companies reduce these capital expenditures, paying per subscription only for the percentage they use.
Managed service providers handle a variety of tasks including virtual server hosting, backups, IT infrastructure management, and more. Some vendors will also offer BIA services and the critical business continuity and disaster planning necessary to keep data safe and compliant.
The data management landscape has changed dramatically in recent years, not only in how data is stored, but also in the importance of proper security. Data storage itself has become more critical than in the old days, when a simple tape drive was all a business needed. However, cost-sharing options by leveraging outsourced vendors have made sourcing high-end data management solutions easier than ever. Today’s companies don’t have to be experts in BIA or business continuity planning and disaster recovery, they just need to partner with a vendor who is.