Simon Jackson, Managing Director at Spenic, discusses why it is so important that vehicle recycling businesses consider good planning in their IT management to ensure that they are operating cost-effectively and efficiently.
We are more reliant on our IT systems than ever. Often taken for granted that when we power up, all will work as it should. So when something goes wrong, it can cause a minor or even, a major operational business impact.
Often seen as a complex area requiring specialist knowledge to fix and maintain, with a bit of considered planning, the headache of a failure can often be settled with a solid plan of action and preventative maintenance.
Your IT systems – the employees that are always working – except when they aren’t!
Overlooking the stability of your IT systems is something that we all do from time to time. Normally, because it’s one of those things we don’t want to think about until it happens. When it does happen, it can be a daunting thought to fix.
However, with a bit of planning, this doesn’t have to be a headache, and with a plan in place with a trusted partner, you can rest in the knowledge that when things go wrong, you have a plan and a process to stop it affecting your business.
Whether you host data in the cloud, on your PCs or on in-house servers, each component plays a part in earning your business money and keeping your staff productive. It is easy for us all to become complacent regarding IT resilience when so much data is now stored off-site. However, without onsite devices to access that data, your business stops functioning.
If your hardware fails, data is normally lost. Even with a backup, restoring to a new device can be, at best, time-consuming, and at worst, problematic, so implementing a secure, automated and robust method of protecting your devices is an investment that is well worth doing.
The cost of restoring a single device or entire network can vary wildly in both cost and time. Having a trusted partner to work with you to implement a costed plan of action takes away a lot of unknowns and enables you to build resilience into your organisation.
From hardware failure, absolute tech to virus and malware attacks, each can affect one or all of your internal IT infrastructure.
So a quick checklist is always a good idea to use Try this 10-point plan as a starter:
- How many PCs do you have on-site?
- How many laptops (used for the business) do you have on-site?
- If you have a server on-site – what version of software is running on it, and is it still supported?
- Is any data held locally on those devices?
- What Antivirus package is running on your network, and is it automatically updated?
- What malware protection do you have running, and is it automatically updated?
- Are all the machines up to date with the latest windows security updates?
- If something went wrong, do you have the contact details of the trusted provider that will be able to advise on a solution?
- Do you have a robust and encrypted on-site backup process for each device that runs automatically?
- Do your employees know the process and plan if an IT failure occurs? And how to report it?
This effort is worth it because it will save you stress and ensure you stay operational when you lose a single device or all of them! And it will allow you to get your data back after a data corruption, virus or malware attack or simply if someone deleted the wrong file!
Having the right recovery solution in place really does save you time and money!
Each business will have its own experiences of IT failure, some small, some large, but a typical issue that most can relate to is the loss or replacement of a single PC or laptop.
Let’s take the above example and illustrate the difference in recovery or replacement between having a plan in place or not:
So if a device’s hard drive fails and there is no encrypted secure restore path in place, your choice and actions are:
- Replace the hard drive or replace the whole device
- Reinstall:
- The operating system
- Windows
- Run windows updates
- Printer drivers
- Software licences the operating system
- Install secondary device drivers
- Configure the associated device settings
- Perhaps speak to external application providers and pay for re-installation
- Wait for the installation and activation of external services
If you have a secure and encrypted restore path in place, your list of work suddenly becomes a lot shorter!
- Replace the hard drive or replace the whole device
- Insert your encrypted USB restore key and log in to the restore panel
- Wait for the recovery to complete
In three simple steps, you will be back online as if nothing had happened; no external calls, all self-managed by you, and software and hardware ready to go!
About Spenic
Spenic has been serving the recycling sectors for over 12 years, and we care about your business. Our Business Continuity Service is tailored to offer a scalable, cost-effective IT management solution that works practically for your business.
Our systems are set up remotely to save installation, setup time and cost. We supply all that is needed for your business to operate its own recovery system. However, we are always there to support you at every step if you need a hand.
If you want to know more about how we can help, call or email, and we can go through what might fit for you.
For more information on how Spenic Business Continuity Solution can help protect your business in a straightforward way, please email bcs@spenic.com or call 01454 430209.
