Natural disasters, cyber attacks and unforeseen disruptions are all issues sites and businesses are concerned about. With their increase in frequency and severity, disaster recovery is becoming a critical component of business continuity planning. Remote monitoring can ensure swift and effective disaster recovery or sites across all sectors. This blog explores how remote monitoring can assist in disaster recovery, detailing its benefits, applications, and best practices.
- What Is Remote Monitoring?
- The Importance of Disaster Recovery
- Key Statistics Surrounding Disaster Recovery in Business
- Benefits of Remote Monitoring in Disaster Recovery
- Applications of Remote Monitoring in Disaster Recovery
- Can Remote Monitoring Assist in Disaster Recovery?
- How Much Does Remote Monitoring Cost?
- Remote Monitoring in Disaster Recovery with RMS
What Is Remote Monitoring?
Remote monitoring is the use of advanced technology to remotely monitor the systems, environments and custom parameters of a site. By observing, tracking and analysing the data received, real-time issues and alerts can be identified and instantly acted upon, whether that be fixing an internal issue or actioning a police response.
Professionally remote monitoring is usually carried out by a third party provider from an off-site location. They will have a team of highly trained and experienced monitoring operatives who continuously monitor a site, 24/7, 365 days a year.
The Importance of Disaster Recovery
Disaster recovery is a set of procedures or tools in place that help a site or organisation to recover or continue following a natural or human-induced disaster, such as a terrorist attack, cyber attack or extreme flooding. It is a crucial component of a broader business continuity strategy, ensuring that organisations can quickly resume critical functions after a disruption and minimise the impact on their operations.
When it comes to remote monitoring in assisting disaster recovery, it allows businesses to maintain operations despite disruptions, minimise downtime and therefore reduce financial losses, as well as help safeguard valuable data against loss or compromise.
Key Statistics Surrounding Disaster Recovery in Business
- Between 2019 and 2022, 96% of organisations experienced at least one incidence of downtime.
- 5% of business downtime is caused by natural disasters such as floods, fires and wind.
- Approximately 7% of organisations never test their disaster recovery plans.
- Around 25% of businesses that close because of a natural disaster or incident never reopen again.
Benefits of Remote Monitoring in Disaster Recovery
Real-Time Alerts & Notifications
Remote monitoring provides monitoring operatives with instant alerts about potential or actual disasters, meaning they can provide a rapid response. Notifications can also be shared with site key holders and tailored alerts can also be created for specific events such as power outages, equipment failures or security breaches, all of which could have a negative impact to a site if not detected.
Continuous Surveillance
With remote monitoring in place, sites can be confident that there is constant vigilance over their critical systems and infrastructure 24/7, no matter if there are other people on site.
Early Detection
Monitoring operators are highly skilled, and together with the advanced technology used by remote monitoring providers, can provide early detection of any issues before they escalate into full-blown disasters, allowing for preemptive measures.
Data Collection & Analysis
A remote monitoring provider will maintain a log of historical data, which is crucial for post-disaster analysis and to aid future decision-making and responses. The data can also be used to form patterns and predict future disruptions.
Remote Access
The benefit of remote monitoring is that an organisation does not need to give access to their site. Especially beneficial if it is a restricted or high-security location. Remote monitoring allows for full off-site management and control of systems.
Applications of Remote Monitoring in Disaster Recovery
Disaster recovery is relevant to all organisations and sites, across all industries.
IT Infrastructure & Data Centers
- Server Monitoring – monitoring of the server’s health and performance to ensure maximum uptime, as well as failure management, whereby an automated switch to backup servers can be implemented in the event of a failure.
- Network Monitoring – monitoring of network traffic to indicate unusual activity which could indicate a cyber attack.
Industrial & Manufacturing Facilities
- Equipment Monitoring – monitoring the status of critical machinery and equipment for faults or inefficiencies, as well as predictive maintenance to prevent breakdowns and costly downtime.
- Environmental Monitoring – monitoring of temperature and humidity to protect sensitive equipment, as well as detect hazards like gas leaks or chemical spills in real time.
Healthcare Facilities
- Patient Monitoring – continuous monitoring of patient’s vital signs, especially during emergencies.
- Facility Monitoring – monitor the power supply to critical medical equipment so that it is never interrupted, as well as help maintain controlled environments in operating rooms and intensive care units.
Utilities & Energy Sectors
- Power Grid Monitoring – monitoring the load on the power grid to prevent any outages as well as fault detection to enable rapid rerouting of power to maintain supply.
- Utilities – maintain the integrity and flow within the pipeline to detect leaks or ruptures for water and gas companies.
Can Remote Monitoring Assist in Disaster Recovery?
Remote monitoring plays a pivotal role in disaster recovery by providing real-time visibility and control over critical systems and infrastructure, allowing organisations to detect and address issues before they escalate. It also enables remote access and control, so teams can manage and mitigate problems from any location, even when on-site access is restricted. Additionally, remote monitoring ensures timely data backups and efficient resource allocation, which speeds up recovery processes and minimises downtime for sites.
How Much Does Remote Monitoring Cost?
The cost of implementing remote monitoring at a site to assist with disaster recovery is dependent on various factors. These include the size of the size as well as the number of components, systems and parameters being monitored. We recommend contacting the RMS team to receive the most accurate cost for your sites.
Remote Monitoring in Disaster Recovery with RMS
At RMS, we are passionate about monitoring what matters to you. Our in-house category 2 ARC allows us to provide high-quality remote monitoring that delivers far beyond the competition. We work with a customer-first approach and create bespoke solutions to suit each of your sites’ needs. Trusted by leading organisations for remote monitoring as part of their disaster recovery plans, we are experienced and versed in providing exceptional disaster recovery solutions.
Get in touch today to get started with your sites.
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