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Disaster Recovery Horror Story #4: Baltimore Law Firm Takes a DIY Approach

May 15, 2013 by

Sometimes good intentions don’t translate into good ideas. That is what happened when one Baltimore Law Firm decided to take a DIY Approach to Disaster Recovery. Every night, an employee of Baxter, Baker, Sidle, Conn & Jones took a hard drive home as a security precaution in case fire or flood. This storage device held a complete back-up copy of the firm’s data, including information about is cases and medical records, patient names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers and insurance information. Worst of all, the information was not encrypted.

Then, the inconceivable happened. One night while traveling on the Baltimore light rail, the employee accidently left the hard drive on the train. She returned for it 10 minutes later, but it was already gone.

“We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause you,” said the law firm in a letter to patients. “We have taken this seriously.”

Disaster Recovery Services from Working Nets in Baltimore, Maryland

Don’t try to take disaster recovery into your own hands. Trust the experts at Working Nets. We were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support they needed. That is why Working Nets offers disaster recovery services to help assure that your vital business data is kept safe and secure if disaster strikes.

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Sources:

  1. Law firm loses hard drive with patient records Baltimore Sun
Filed Under: Computer Security Baltimore Tagged With: , ,

Preparing for Disaster Recovery: It is Important to Have a Plan

April 25, 2013 by

While we certainly hope your business is never stricken by a disaster, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Remember, it is far easier to recover from a disaster if you have a plan in place. And it is much better to sit down and put a plan together now than after a disaster strikes and major data loss occurs.

You have probably seen us throw around this statistic before, but it is a good one. Of companies that experience major data loss, 51% close within 2 years, while 43% never recover.

Preparing for Disaster Recovery: It is Important to Have a Plan

  1. Backups:  Backups are not only cost-effective, but extremely important. You need to ensure that you are backing up everything – operating systems, applications, and data. Just make sure you store the backups off site. Otherwise, they could be affected and ruined by the same disaster plaguing your business.
  2. Recovery Tiers: Not every position within a company can handle downtime. Some have need zero or near-zero downtime. Because of this, it is important to create recovery tiers, which is a hierarchy of restoration. To accomplish this, most organizations use the following metrics: Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO). RPO the frequency of backups. For example, a four-hour RPO dictates that the most recent backup can’t be more than four hours old. Meanwhile, RTO indicates how long after a disaster it takes to restore service. For example, a four-hour RTO means that systems must be back up and running four hours after an outage.
  3. Align Strategies with Business Strategy: It is not cost effective to treat every aspect of your business as critical. Because of this, your disaster recovery strategy must align with your business strategy. So what aspects of your business are most important to you and the future success of your business?
  4. Prepare for Recovery: The recovery phase is when you start getting everything back up and running. It may not be a permanent solution and performance may not be optimal, but it enables your business to get back on track. It is very similar to replacing a flat tire with a spare.
  5. Prepare for Restoration: The restoration phase is when you actually restore things to the way they were before.

Make sense? Need help?

Working Nets: Baltimore, Maryland Disaster Preparedness & Disaster Recovery Services

At Working Nets, we were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support. We know computer and network performance is crucial to success. That is why we offer disaster preparedness and disaster recovery services to help assure that your vital business data is kept secure if disaster strikes.

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Filed Under: IT Tips Baltimore Tagged With: ,

Disaster Preparedness: Hurricane Sandy, Battery Backups, Redundancy & more

October 31, 2012 by

As the weather finally begins to clear, the full aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is being realized. Countless businesses along the east coast were devastated by the storm. Was your business one of them? How did you fare during Hurricane Sandy?

If you had a disaster recovery plan and offsite data backup in place, you are probably okay. Yet, astonishingly, only 25% of computer users regularly backup their data! And major data loss can be devastating for a business. Of companies that experience a major loss of business data 51% close within 2 years, while 43% never recover.

That means that only 6% of businesses that experience major data loss survive!

So what can you do to ensure that your business does not become another statistic? You can plan ahead.

Whether you call it disaster preparedness, emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, or business continuity, the goal is the same: to get your business back up and running as quickly as possible in the event of a disruption.

  • Communication: You need to ensure that each of your employees knows what to do in the event of a disaster. Where will they do, how will they do their jobs, and how will they communicate?
  • Batter Backup: Battery backups are designed to provide power to your business when the grid is knocked out by natural disaster.
  • Off-Site Backup: If disaster strikes and you store your backups onsite, you could STILL lose all of your vital business information. Data loss can cripple any business. So make sure your vital business information is kept safe by utilizing off-site backup.
  • System Redundancy: The more redundant your systems, the less you will suffer, within reason. That’s the idea behind data backups, but there are other things you will need “backed up,” besides your data itself. These additional items include copies software, passwords, vendor information, and more!

Disaster recovery is not just for Fortune 500 companies. But what do you do if you cannot afford to hire an in-house IT technician? You outsource, of course!

If you have any questions about Disaster Preparedness, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Security & Disaster Preparedness Services: Data protection and recovery is crucial. Working Nets assures that your vital business data is kept secure if disaster strikes.

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

 

Filed Under: Explanations, IT industry Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Benefits of Outsourced Disaster Recovery :: Maryland IT Support

June 29, 2012 by

With so much of your business relying on technology, you cannot afford to lose critical data. The outcomes could be disastrous to your business. In fact, of companies that had a major loss of business data…

  • 6% Survived
  • 51% Closed Within 2 Years
  • 43% Never Recovered!

So what do you do when disaster strikes?

Do you have a plan in place?

Don’t wait until disaster strikes to step back and look at what you could have done differently. Now is the time to act. Now is the time to address Disaster Recovery.

What is Disaster Recovery?

Disaster recovery is the process and procedures your business puts in place for the recovery of your technology infrastructure and critical data after a natural or human-induced disaster.

What is Outsourced Disaster Recovery?

Companies of all shapes and sizes – from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies – are beginning to realize the importance of disaster recovery. But what do you do if you cannot afford to hire an in-house IT technician?

You outsource your disaster recovery needs to Working Nets, your virtual IT department! We assure that your vital business data is available when you need it.

What are the Benefits of Outsourced Disaster Recovery?

  • It is often cheaper to outsource your IT needs than it is to hire an in-house IT professional. Plus, you can utilize an entire team of IT experts without having to pay a single salary!
  • There are no upfront technology or storage costs.
  • There are no hardware maintenance costs.
  • There are no software subscriptions.
  • Peace of Mind!

So do the right thing for your business and outsource your disaster recovery to Working Nets!

If you have any questions about Outsourced Disaster Recovery, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Deptartment!

At Working Nets, we support your business by providing top-notch Information Technology (I.T.) services to companies like yours: Companies that don’t need full-time I.T. services, but do need someone to turn to, when they are having a problem. We provide services like Network Design, Monitoring and Maintenance. We troubleshoot technical issues when they arise, and give you options for solving them. We help you use your technology investment to achieve your business goals.

At Working Nets, our focus is on your needs!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Sources:

Data Storage: 10 Compelling Reasons for Outsourcing Disaster Recovery

Outsourcing Disaster Recovery versus traditional in-house methods

Disaster Recovery Services FAQ

Disaster Recovery Guide

Filed Under: IT industry, IT Tips Baltimore Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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