Southwest Airlines was one of the latest companies to fall victim to what’s been referred to as a “computer glitch” resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations, delays, lots of unhappy customers and a negative impact to the company’s bottom line.
A router breakdown that led to a series of failures in critical technology systems has been blamed. The backup systems in place also failed to work as expected.
Even if you aren’t operating one of the nation’s largest airline carriers, if your company relies on technology (which, let’s face it, is most) a disaster recovery plan is a critical business need. Here are three reasons why:
- Machines and Hardware Fail
Even the best hardware is not completely immune to failing. That’s where Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) comes in. In the event of a failure, your physical or virtual servers should be backed up by a third party so you can quickly and cost-effectively recover your data with as little down time as possible. In addition, you should be conducting regular network assessments and testing to avoid unreliable redundancy.
- Human Error is Common
Ever had your computer crash or lost an important document? It happens to everyone. Having a disaster recovery plan in place can ensure you have online data backups that allow you to easily restore your data. In addition, having redundant firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-spyware software can help prevent security breaches that are often the result of human error.
- Customers Have Little Patience
With the Internet, and especially social media, customers are quicker than ever to voice their frustrations and concerns to anyone and everyone. Those affected by the recent Southwest Airlines flight interruptions are a prime example. It’s not easy to earn a customers’ trust, and any downtime or inconvenience they experience, even if due to an IT disaster is a quick way to send your customers to your competition.
At any time, something unwelcomed can happen and affect your organization's overall IT infrastructure and your company’s bottom line. Call us to learn more about how VizionVault, our disaster recovery service, can help you prepare for the unexpected.