The Covid pandemic saw (or rather, caused) a paradigm shift in how companies approach workspaces and work hours. Particularly, the concept of remote work rose from relative obscurity to estimates that one in five Americans will work remotely in 2025. And yet, after the pandemic, remote work has seen yet another change – a rise of hybrid setups. Two significant changes in how businesses and employees work (and where they work) that occurred in such a short span caused new challenges to appear. They were: How do companies keep their information safe and secure, and what happens if some of the data gets lost? As a result, disaster recovery planning has become a practical necessity for companies big and small. Let’s dive into business continuity developments over the past few years.
Vulnerabilities for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
You might think that a small business is not at risk of losing its data. And yet, a frightening number of small businesses close their doors permanently after a data breach or a disaster that would otherwise only temporarily force them to close their doors.
Additionally, the rise of remote work has forced employers to reorient themselves and forcibly adopt new technologies and methodologies, some of which they weren’t prepared for or have no idea what to do with.
The Rise of Cyber-Threats
Large corporations have dedicated IT departments and cybersecurity offices to maintain and protect their systems, but the same can’t be said for a fresh startup. At the same time, the barrier to entry for wannabe hackers and fraudsters is lower than ever, thanks to the proliferation of AI.
Cybersecurity Ventures posits that over half of all cyberattacks target small businesses. Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigation Report found that roughly a third of all data breaches involved ransomware or other extortion techniques, incurring a median loss of $46,000 per breach. Even if smaller businesses lose comparatively less, it’s still a potentially devastating loss.
Through all that, phishing scams have thrived in an era where most business communication is conducted online (specifically via email). Hackers have developed more elaborate phishing scams, using more legitimate-looking websites to fool their victims and leaping onto recent events to exploit the resulting public reactions.
Lack of Centralized IT Control
As mentioned, many SMBs function without a dedicated IT department. This leaves security and software management up to individual employees (often a single person who might also belong to the C-suite) with limited technical expertise. This lack of centralized, and more importantly, experience-based IT control results in inconsistent security practices across devices and networks, increasing the risk of cyberattacks and system failures.
The lack of control leads to a lack of guidance and training for other employees, which results in a paradoxical-sounding statistic that around 90% of cybersecurity issues result from human error. For example, employees may install unverified software, delay or forgo critical security updates, or use weak passwords that make systems vulnerable.
The Shift to Hybrid
Hybrid work models—where employees split their time between working remotely and in-office—introduce more security and operational challenges. While remote work offered flexibility and efficiency, it also expanded the attack surface for cybercriminals. It also puts the strain of maintaining cybersecurity on the company to ensure the system can handle fully online work, while also penalizing the employees for making their homes a potential entry point for attackers.
Thus, from an employer standpoint, the hybrid model is a difficult one to navigate without help.
Employees now need to connect to business systems using personal devices or unsecured public Wi-Fi networks when at home. While in the office, they might have multiple devices that need to sync up data to ensure a smoother workflow. As a result, IT teams have a much more challenging time monitoring and securing endpoints, leading to a higher risk of data breaches.
Connectivity and Downtime Challenges
Even short downtimes can be costly for SMBs, negatively impacting revenue, employee productivity, and customer trust. Downtime can result from power outages (like natural disasters), cyberattacks, hardware failures, or even software updates gone wrong.
For example, an e-commerce business with an unexpected server failure during peak sales hours could lose hundreds of potential sales. Similarly, a professional services firm relying on cloud applications for managing its projects could face workflow disruptions if its collaboration tools become inaccessible.
Key Disaster Recovery and Planning Solutions
Modern cybersecurity and disaster recovery practices are proactive rather than reactive. Businesses can implement a few different solutions (many of which can be conveniently packaged as a larger business continuity service) to help them store data safely and prevent misuse.
Secure Cloud Storage
There are a few ways to store data, but they all rely on either offline and on-premise solutions or online, cloud-based platforms. Out of the two, cloud services provide more scalability, a better assortment of options, and more lucrative pricing for small businesses.
This comes from the economies of scale working in a cloud provider’s favor. By sharing its servers among many clients, it can save up on hardware and put more focus on developing software-as-a-service. Platforms such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive offer automatic updates, synchronization, and encrypted access to potentially sensitive data. They make a stolen laptop little more than just a hunk of plastic and metal, as all the data is stored online (although the company should maintain some backups as well).
Backup and Monitoring
Backups are the lifeblood of business continuity and disaster recovery planning. For small businesses, especially those with a hybrid work model, maintaining multiple backup locations is key. Additionally, redundancy here might beat out security. Storing a physical flash drive with vital company data somewhere in the office (or at home) might sound silly. However, it’ll be the fastest way to fetch critical documentation when internet access is gone.
Collaboration Platforms
Remote and hybrid teams rely on collaboration platforms to maintain productivity in mixed workflows and workspaces. Tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Zoom facilitate real-time communication, file sharing, and project collaboration, ensuring that teams can stay connected regardless of location.
At the same time, these platforms need to offer the highest levels of cybersecurity possible, as they can also be among the primary points of entry for criminals. In some cases, businesses can develop their own “intranets,” keeping entire silos of information on private servers that can be accessed through multi-factor authentication.
VPNs and Internal Network Security
Secure network access is perhaps one of the biggest pain points for modern businesses, specifically those that use a remote or a hybrid work model. “Remote” doesn’t necessarily mean “at home,” so employees might access confidential data from unsecured networks.
Reputable VPNs and private networks with Zero Trust Security Models (where identification is provided at every step), create a secure “backbone” for employees and employers alike, ensuring vital information stays within the company.
How Professional Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery Helps Your Business
A large part of business continuity and disaster recovery planning hinges on operating word planning. Every business needs to approach the challenges posed by remote work and cybersecurity threats differently. And each one might need a different solution, one tailored to their needs, compliance requirements, IT capabilities and infrastructure, and budget.
To help with all that, small businesses can turn to professionally managed service providers like KDI. They can help determine which type of technology will be the best fit with the existing infrastructure and plan, or whether an entirely new installation will provide a better solution.
Companies in Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware can contact KDI today to get started and prepare their business to overcome any obstacle that disasters and hackers throw their way.