Floods, theft, data breaches or other unforeseeable events can result in a downtime many SMEs can’t afford. To mitigate that risk more and more businesses rely on server virtualization, cloud and mobility technologies. A good move, according to Symantec. The security software maker advises businesses to review and test their disaster preparedness at least once a quarter.
The SMB Disaster Preparedness survey, released this week, shows that fear of events that could put the business on hold is the key driver behind SMBs adopting emerging technologies. 34 per cent of respondents said it affected their commitment to server virtualization and 71 per cent stated that the same improved their disaster preparedness. Similarly, 41 per cent saw improvement through going to the public cloud and mobility increased their disaster preparedness 36 per cent of the time.
Following the survey Symantec released a number of tips tailored to help mid-sized businesses get started with cutting edge technology:
1. Start planning now
Develop a disaster preparedness plan today. Evaluate how strategic technologies such as mobile, virtualization and cloud can help you, specifically, by getting informed straight away.
2. Implement strategic technologies
Adopt an integrated cloud backup for office storage and disaster recovery, and automated physical to virtual (P2V) backup conversion so you can recover your physical system to a virtual machine in case of a server failure.
3. Protect your information
Use comprehensive security and backup solutions to protect your physical, virtual and mobile systems. You may even opt to backup to the cloud.
4. Review and test your disaster preparedness
This should be completed at least once a quarter.
It looks like it isn’t just the big enterprises that lead the way in adopting new technology trends in the workplace. Adopting the above early will help small to mid-sized businesses keep up in the global market and, if used right, improve their business strategy.
