Whenever we are asked to restore something from our backup system there is usually a moment of trepidation. There is a moment when we are not quite sure what is going to happen. There is a moment when we either literally or figuratively cross our fingers. It is at this moment when we learn if we’ve done our job correctly. In many cases we have, but in some very critical cases we have not. It is at this moment where we face the "when no amount of money will help" scenario.
What is this scenario? It is the complete inability to restore mission critical data. Research has shown that most organizations that experience critical data loss never recover and often begin the slide to "out of business." Obviously this applies to completely lost data, not just data that is not found for some time. And the data must be in the very mission critical category to have that impact on the business. But for all of us that type of data does exist. It is that data we must protect very carefully. It is that data we must consider when we make critical decisions about how and how much we are going to spend on our backup solution.
It is here where we consciously decide to avoid the "when no amount of money will help" scenario. We must reach this moment of consciousness here. We cannot wait until the latter moment for this consciousness to occur. It is too late then.
Ideally, backup and restores would be free and always work perfectly. Clearly, none of that is true nor is it a reasonable expectation of any backup solution. However, we can take steps to increase our chances of successful restores. The first step we must take is to determine how much our data is really worth to us. Data value runs the gamut from zero to "I’d spend any amount of money to get it back." Notice the phrase I used. I did not say, "I’d spend any amount of money to protect it." It is here we often fail. It is here the path to "out of business" begins.
If we would be willing to spend any amount of money to get something back then why are we hesitant to spend a reasonable amount of money to protect it in the first place? Human nature may be the answer. We fail to predict accurately how much something will be worth to us once it is gone.
Buying insurance is not fun. Backup is insurance. However, skimping on backup almost always has negative consequences at some point. Honestly and accurately assessing these consequences is critical to making the correct decisions. How many times have you done simple math to calculate how much a backup solution is going to cost while ignoring the potential value of that solution? We make a decision to purchase based on the cost per Terabyte or some industry standard metric we believe should apply to us. This happens all the time. It does not happen to the people who have adequately prepared for, or have faced, the "when no amount of money will help" scenario. It does not happen to people who have accurately recognized the value of their data to the long-term success of their business.
What can you do? Avoid the seductiveness of saving money on backup and restore. Put backup and restore in the front of your consciousness rather than the back. As you are contemplating your IT strategy put the value of restore in front and make decisions based on your known ability to recover.
Accurately assess the value to you of avoiding the "When no amount of money will bring back your data" scenario. You won’t be sorry. BTE
