Three myths about disaster recovery

The version of this that works is simpler than the version most people imagine. A few things about disaster recovery that get repeated more often than they get checked.

Security is a maintenance habit rather than a purchase, which is why it drifts. It is worth deciding this deliberately rather than inheriting whatever the last person set up.

“It only matters for big sites”

Ask how long you could be down before it really hurts. It is worth being explicit about, because assumptions differ quietly. Most teams find the first pass takes an afternoon and the maintenance takes minutes a month.

“We can deal with it after launch”

Sometimes true, usually expensive. There is a version of this that is over-engineered, and it is worth avoiding.

“Our platform handles it”

Practise the recovery at least once a year. Small and consistent beats large and occasional here. Most teams find the first pass takes an afternoon and the maintenance takes minutes a month.

What this looks like day to day

The realistic threat for most small businesses is automated and opportunistic, not targeted. Three things worth confirming about disaster recovery before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Practise the recovery at least once a year — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

If you are not sure where your systems currently stand on this, it takes us about an hour to find out.