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"The planning and implementation of procedures and facilities for use when essential systems are not available for a period long enough to have a significant impact on the business" is how Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines Disaster Recovery.

"The planning and implementation of procedures and facilities for use when essential systems are not available for a period long enough to have a significant impact on the business" is how Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines Disaster Recovery.

For most of us here in South Florida, that means hurricane season. And the ubiquitous questions like "how can I protect my business and what do I do now to keep us afloat immediately following a natural or man-made disaster?" begin to arise. The answers, regardless of what advice you can garner from TV news, do not involve buying candles and bottled water.

Today, in the high-speed age of information technology, when it comes to protecting your business, your data is definitely one of your most important assets. And as a business owner, protecting it is one of the most important decisions you can make. In fact, according to Iron Mountain, the global leader in data protection and information management, "it is estimated that 60 percent of businesses that experience downtime of 48 hours or more will be out of business within three years."

In addition to avoiding downtime or a delay of any kind, you must also protect your electronic data from getting in the wrong hands. Almost every business today is in possession of extremely sensitive data, including credit card numbers, social security numbers, financial data, etc. And it's likely this data is loosely guarded or on portable devices, such as laptops or PDAs. Therefore, any disaster recovery plan that protects your data in the event of a natural disaster, should also take into consideration theft and data encryption.

The big question is where to start? The truth is that disaster recovery comes in many forms and at many different price points. There are nearly limitless options and virtually anyone could be the right fit for you. It's important to perform a risk analysis and establish preventative measures before you need to implement them. For example, in a hurricane, if your roof is torn off and your server is destroyed, how quickly can you resume operations? Can a disgruntled employee download your customer database onto a flash drive and walk out the door? All your risks, (from the small to the large, the most common to the unlikely) need to be addressed. Then you need to practice. Perform routine preventative measures or fire drills so that the IT staff knows exactly what to do and how long you might anticipate down time. Then you'll be able to put disaster recovery measures in place and be able to evaluate those measures when you perform a post-mortem analysis.

Some additional food for thought includes installing data encryption software if sensitive data resides on portable devices or find applications with sophisticated security that disables the ability to download data. If most of your critical data resides on a server, then the most basic disaster recovery plan includes a routine, formalized tape backup procedure. Investing in a LTO (linear tape open) or DAT (digital audio tape) drive will allow you to store large amounts of data in a portable format. Tape drivers are relatively inexpensive and the media can be easily transported off site to a bunker facility, a safe, or even a datacenter.

While tape backup is a solution, you still must attend to executing the back up and finding an alternative location for it. If the tape is taken off site it should be kept with a trusted employee or a trusted company. Giving the responsibility to just any person can put your company at risk for fraud and theft. It's recommended to remove the physical backups from the premises every night (just copying your database electronically on your hard drive does not protect you in case of a fire or hurricane).

And remember, backups need to be checked. While most businesses already have servers with tape backup drives and backup software configured, an alarmingly high percentage of these businesses do not have formalized procedures in place to check the backups. Unfortunately, many small businesses don't realized how important backups are until it's too late.

Another thing to consider is how quickly you need your system up and running after a disaster. Even if your backup procedures work perfectly, there is down time in waiting for a new server if the old one is destroyed. Some businesses maintain 'dormant' backup servers off site (with all critical software installed) so the backup can be restored on the dormant server and workstations rerouted. Other businesses maintain backup systems 'live' at datacenters that have vault security systems in place to ensure 99.99% uptime. These solutions require an investment in high-speed data connections.

Bottom line: make sure you have a disaster plan. Assess your risk and how debilitating several days of system outage could be. Test your disaster recovery plan frequently. If you would like to take preventative measure in the case of disaster, you can also talk with technology consulting firm to find out what is the best option for your business. Hurricane season is rapidly approaching. Take care of your bottom line as well as stocking up on candles and bottled water.