Disaster recovery is a critical and troublesome process for any enterprise. Once an emergency occurs it is too late to prepare and a business has to rely on the strategy and tools it already has in place to overcome adversity and return to normal operations in a timely manner.
By being better organized and having operations prioritized, firms can use business process management to streamline recovery and stabilize work processes in short order. According to IT Business Edge, however, disaster recovery can be best improved by process automation.
A recent report from the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council noted that the cost of enterprise downtime following a crisis is nearly $5,000 a minute, and the easiest and best way to cut that cost and speed up the process is to automate it. Many firms are already automating their data backup processes, recovery is the next logical step.
Automating disaster recovery provides several benefits. It can help companies speed up recovery, as well as reduce the cost of implementing various processes. Additionally, the right BPM suite will continue providing benefits well beyond recovery periods in order to simplify workflow and reduce operational costs for a business - helping establish stable operations to reduce the risk of disaster and overall recovery time in the first place.
From a recovery standpoint, process management software provides an enterprise with the efficiency and speed to help employees focus on recovery needs that a computer can't handle, such as contacting clients and partners, setting up desktop environments and other aspects of workflow that automation won't handle as efficiently. The time this saves will help a firm save thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars during these times, and reduce the overall stress associated with a disaster.
According to the news source, none of these advantages are possible without the support of front office administration leading recovery and continuity endeavors. Developing a strategy that hinges on automation will require the full support and cooperation of all employees, and while it can relieve the financial burden of recovery in many instances, without the organization in place to streamline implementation and success, it can create logistical headaches.
By investing in BPM solutions for every aspect of operations, firms can ensure that employees are accustomed to changes early on and ready to react when disaster does strike and these services become the support structure for the entire process.
Ben Farrell
Director of Corporate Communications
