If the last four years have taught us anything, it’s that disruptions are both inevitable and unpredictable. From COVID-19 to cyber-attacks, and economic and geopolitical instability, businesses of all sizes have faced significant hurdles just to keep operating.
From an IT perspective, this highlights the critical need for a disaster recovery plan—a set of actions and processes to follow when things go wrong and you need to keep the business running. It’s a safeguard against the unexpected.
For SMEs, these plans are essential. Tighter budgets mean there’s less room for downtime—even a few hours can result in significant financial losses, sometimes threatening business continuity. Research shows that the cost of IT downtime can reach as much as £65,000 per hour.
However, tighter budgets can complicate things further, as Nutbourne’s Marcus Evans explains. “Disaster recovery planning (DRP) presents a bit of a dilemma for SMEs,” he says. “How do they justify the investment when operating on smaller budgets?
“It may seem like a luxury, but it’s actually crucial because it effectively mitigates business-ending risks. Put another way, the cost of inaction is far worse.”
Evans adds that while the ROI of disaster recovery isn’t immediately obvious, it manifests in various ways. There’s reduced downtime, protection from data loss, and the avoidance of financial and reputational damage. And while it can be difficult to quantify the direct returns of a disaster recovery plan, the cost of not having one is much clearer.
“We’ve seen this often—prolonged downtime cripples operations, hits revenues, and erodes client trust. Data security is big business, and it’s heavily regulated—the fines for breaches alone are enough to push some SMEs to the brink of collapse.
“A DR plan won’t provide an immediate return in terms of revenue, but it significantly reduces the risk of financial and operational disaster in the future. It’s essentially an insurance policy for your operations.”
So while many SMEs may be tempted to delay investing in disaster recovery due to tight budgets, the long-term costs of inaction can far exceed the initial investment. Without a recovery plan, businesses are exposed to data loss, cybersecurity breaches, and extended operational downtime.
“Sadly, we’ve seen how losing critical data or being unable to operate for extended periods can quickly push a small business towards insolvency,” Evans says. “Without a recovery plan, SMEs are at a much higher risk of failing to recover from an IT disaster.
“It may seem like an unnecessary expense in the short term, but the long-term costs of not having a plan can be devastating,” he concludes. “Our advice is to work with an MSP to assess your risk. You can then balance the cost of your recovery with your requirements, budget, and future outlook.
“There are many affordable options available, such as cloud-based solutions, shared recovery services, and outsourcing, that can make disaster recovery achievable even for smaller businesses.
“At the end of the day, this is about ensuring your business remains resilient in the face of unforeseen challenges. That’s worth its weight in gold.”