It’s time for a new approach to backup and disaster recovery (BDR). Underpinned by the reality of remote work and informed by the evolving nature of security and infrastructure threats, legacy BDR plans are no longer enough to keep pace with current concerns — and won’t be able to handle a hybrid workplace future. The numbers tell the tale — 73% of staff want flexible work options and 66% of companies are considering a redesign of physical spaces to accommodate this trend.
This new model comes with security challenges. For example, 45% of employees use the same password more than once. If they use passwords, 50% don’t password-protect their home networks. As a result, 54% of IT pros point to remote workers as a bigger threat than on-site staff. With remote work on the rise, businesses are best served addressing BDR issues ASAP.
That said, what does better BDR look like? How do companies reduce total risk without compromising staff access or productivity?
Table of Contents
Building a Better BDR Plan
Twenty-eight percent of businesses have experienced data loss in the last 12 months — but 20% have no codified disaster recovery plan. Many others have legacy frameworks that prioritize on-site tools and technologies. While some of these processes remain applicable in a remote work world, most fall short.
Need a better BDR plan? Start with these key components:
• Asset assessments:
Before you can get where you’re going, you need to know where you are. In practice, this means assessing current BDR assets and their capabilities to handle potential problems. For example, if you’re using an entirely on-prem solution, it may not have the breadth or depth to meet evolving recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs). You may also find that RTO and RPO values need re-evaluation to meet remote work expectations.
• Password protections:
Despite the increasing availability of two-factor and multifactor authentication solutions, passwords remain a critical part of security operations. To help reduce total risk, it’s worth educating staff about the need for strong passwords that aren’t easily guessed or compromised and implementing digital controls that mandate regular password changes.
• Secondary solutions:
While remote workers may accidentally introduce threats into IT environments, the distributed nature of hybrid operations also comes with risks that companies can’t predict — such as power outages or natural disasters. To help mitigate the impact of the unexpected, it’s worth deploying secondary solutions that allow staff to stay connected, such as smartphone-enabled VPNs or backup battery sources.
• Bolstered backups:
When it comes to data backups for hybrid work operations, more is better. In practice, this means creating backups more often, more quickly and in more places. Automated tools can help ensure that backups are created on a schedule, while cloud-based services can reduce the time between backup and recovery. By leveraging multiple backup storage options — including on-site, on physical drives, or media and in the cloud — businesses can improve data redundancy to reduce total risk.
Read on for more advice about how to mitigate security risk and maximize the impact of backup and disaster recovery for remote workers.
Infographic created by MXOtech, an IT network management company
