--- title: Preventing Disasters description: "I talk with a lot of CIO’s and IT Directors around the US about how they go about protecting their firms from the risks of downtime . We usually cover topics such as:" canonical_url: https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/preventing-disasters/ locale: en last_updated: 2026-10-27 --- [Acronis Blog](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/) # Preventing Disasters I talk with a lot of CIO’s and IT Directors around the US about how they go about protecting their firms from the risks of downtime . We usually cover topics such as: [![Image 2: Dan Bass](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/content/4ebd2c6ab90855a20d45286557169382.png)](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/authors/dan-bass/ "Dan Bass") [Dan Bass](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/authors/dan-bass/) 2 min read Last updated 05 December 2014 I talk with a lot of CIO’s and IT Directors around the US about how they go about protecting their firms from the risks of downtime . We usually cover topics such as: * RTO and RPO, * SLAs, * Clouds, * Budgets, * Data, * Storage, etc. Recently, the topic has turned more from a bits and bytes discussion into one focused on the reality of keeping their users working and “preventing disasters.” I realize that “preventing disasters” may seem like an impossibility, and from the traditional view of a disaster (earthquake, tornado, water leak, etc), you would be right. But what if you think in terms of keeping your users working with their content (documents, emails, appointments) so that your customers continue to come to you for their needs? When you are successful, you avoid the bigger more personal disaster: being forced out of business by loss of the business. One firm has been using tapes for a long time, backing up nightly, and rigorously moving their data offsite every day. They’ve previously refused to invest any money for anything more because up to that point, they “haven’t needed” anything better. At the same time, the IT Manager said that to recover from loss would take: * 1 day to recover a lost file * 1 – 2 weeks to recover the site We then worked what it would cost her firm for this. Based on a $75/hour rate of income for every employee in their firm, for an 8 hour work day, and a 5 day work week, the cost to their firm was: * $7500/hour * $60,000/day * $300,000/week On top of this lost revenue, the firm would of course have to add the costs for equipment, a facility to put the equipment in, new communication lines, and the time to put this all together. Perhaps another $100,000 – $200,000 or more? But worse than this, according to Strategic Research Institute, organizations that aren’t able to resume operations within ten days of a disaster are not likely to survive. The University of Texas reports that 94% of companies suffering from a catastrophic data loss do not survive; 43% never reopen and 51% close within two years. All of a sudden the management of this firm is thinking that the costs of not doing more to protect themselves are much worse that the costs of providing adequate insurance in a true Disaster Recovery plan. I realize that for some firms, the costs that I mention above would not be insurmountable, and might even seem reasonably affordable. Then again, a SAN replacement alone could be well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And there are research reports available that peg the **cost of downtime at $85,000 – $90,000 PER HOUR!** The question really is, have you taken a good look at what it would cost you in: 1) Time to recover? 2) Cost per hour of lost revenue? 3) Lost customer confidence for future revenue? Can you really afford these costs, and would you still be in business even if you could get past the short term costs? Perhaps it’s time you took a look at the cost for you to prevent a disaster. [Cybersecurity](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/tags/cybersecurity/) [Cyber protection](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/tags/cyber-protection/) ## Written by ![Image 3: Dan Bass](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/content/4ebd2c6ab90855a20d45286557169382.png) Dan Bass [Previous post](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/time-change-backup-availability/) [Time for Change – From Backup to Availability](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/time-change-backup-availability/) [Next post](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/starting-our-operations-europe-tough-decisions-infrastructure/) [Starting our operations in the Europe – tough decisions on infrastructure](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/starting-our-operations-europe-tough-decisions-infrastructure/) About Acronis Acronis is a leader in AI-native cyber protection, unifying data protection, cybersecurity, IT operations and hybrid infrastructure to deliver business continuity, security and compliance with less cost and complexity. More than 21,000 service providers trust Acronis to protect over 750,000 businesses in 150 countries. Acronis is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. [Add as a preferred source on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=acronis.com) ## Related stories Want to learn more? Read the latest stories featuring this solution on our blog. [Acronis Blog](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/) ![Image 4: stc Bahrain and Acronis partner to bring advanced endpoint security to businesses in Bahrain](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/9600f3eea83b8f4e168ea6c1409c8c26.png) [stc Bahrain and Acronis partner to bring advanced endpoint security to businesses in Bahrain](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/stc-bahrain-and-acronis-partner-to-bring-endpoint-security-to-businesses/) We are proud to announce a strategic partnership with stc Bahrain, expanding access to advanced cybersecurity services for businesses across Bahrain. **October 26, 2026**3 min read ![Image 5: Introducing New Acronis CEO: Prakash Panjwani](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/30cb571f6f1aaa131733e5727a4a250c.png) [Introducing New Acronis CEO: Prakash Panjwani](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/introducing-new-acronis-ceo-prakash-panjwani/) We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer, Prakash Panjwani. A veteran cybersecurity CEO, Panjwani previously served as CEO of WatchGuard Technologies and SafeNet. **October 15, 2026**2 min read ![Image 6: Acronis expands MDR toward broader workspace protection](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/18e90e89f5ec4ef0901f19008d4ccbf2.png) [Acronis expands MDR toward broader workspace protection](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/acronis-expands-mdr-toward-broader-workspace-protection/) Acronis is expanding the MDR service with capabilities that make this expertise easier to deliver and help partners address more risks. The developments build on a broader commitment to managed security: helping service providers protect the connected workspace while giving customers access to the expertise needed to investigate threats, respond effectively and maintain business continuity. **October 13, 2026**6 min read