No matter the size of your business, it most probably relies on data to function. In this day and age, companies big or small often take their data (which, for all intents and purposes, is practically the lifeblood of the business) for granted because, well, it’s always going to be there, right? Yes, until Mother Nature or other acts of God or even human error remind us that that won’t always be the case. Hence why we will be discussing the top five reasons why businesses need an IT disaster recovery plan.

It might be a cliché, but it’s true—you don’t realize how important something is until you lose it. And this perfectly illustrates how important data is for a business. So while we already touched on natural disasters, that’s not even the only threat—you have to also consider hardware failures as well as human error, which can both contribute to data loss as well.

Planning ahead is key, as well as having an IT disaster recovery plan, which a reputable IT services provider can provide. Here are top five reasons why businesses need an IT disaster recovery plan:

1. Machines Are Not Fool-Proof

Many so-called experts will claim that, nowadays, modern IT hardware is almost resistant to failures. But there’s the rub—ALMOST. And when it comes to your business’s data, ALMOST won’t cut it. Even a supposedly fool-proof IT infrastructure will have a single point of failure that is just waiting for a natural disaster to take advantage of. Think about it: how much do you think it will cost your company if a disaster wiped out all your business’s data, compared to investing in a disaster recovery plan?

Obviously, the more cost-effective option would be to go ahead and tap an IT solutions provider to make sure that your data is backed up, as well as ensuring that your business is free from service interruptions caused by failures in your IT infrastructure—if it comes to that at all. The bottom line is that yes, investing in an IT disaster recovery plan won’t be free or cheap, but it will still save you money in the long run as opposed to losing everything in the event of disasters or system failures.

2. Unfortunately, Humans Are Not Fool-Proof Either

If machines are not fool-proof, how much more human beings? Even the most mindful professional can make a mistake that can cause wrong data entry or, worse, loss of data. In fact, believe it or not, these instances can be a very common occurrence and, worse, they can even be the hardest to correct or prevent.

The solution? Having a disaster recovery plan from a reputable IT solutions provider that incorporates checking and double-checking, which can minimize human error. In this case, to err is human, but to have an IT disaster recovery plan is divine.

3. You Are Putting Your Business’s Reputation at Risk

This is as obvious as can be. No matter what industry you are in, if you fail to deliver the services that your customers expect because of IT system failure or loss of data, you’re putting your company’s reputation at risk. And in this age of social media where instant feedback can be shared with just a click, the more you should be mindful of the damage that loss of valuable data can bring to you and your customers.

To put it another way, it’s not only natural disasters, hardware failure, human error, and cybercrime that you should be wary of, but also of disappointing and eventually losing your clients to a competitor because of a prolonged service interruption or, if worse comes to worst, a total shutdown in your business because you weren’t prepared enough. But there’s more: this is just the third of the top five reasons why businesses like yours need an IT disaster recovery plan.

4. Potential Customers Might Steer Clear of Your Business

This point is directly connected to the previous one. Say you already put your business’s reputation at risk and, unfortunately, lost some of your current clients. Word of mouth travels fast, and who’s to say that other potential customers won’t be afraid to do business with you in the future because you failed to plan ahead?

5. You Might Cause Your Employees to Be Disgruntled—and Leave

The fifth reason why your business needs an IT disaster recovery plan might surprise you. You might not have thought about this, but yes, this is a consequence of a business not planning ahead and not investing in a good IT disaster recovery plan. You shouldn’t just think about losing customers but losing employees as well!

When something goes wrong, there’s usually a domino effect: in this case, needless to say, if your business is struggling with a data disaster, no question this will have a big impact on your employees—and in a negative way. Imagine staff trying to appease your disgruntled customers, making these employees feel disgruntled themselves. Think about it this way: if employees in your company cannot work the best way they can because you failed to prepare for a disaster that could have been prevented by signing up for an IT disaster recovery plan, whose fault is it when everything’s said and done?

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