The SST Insider – September 2025
From the Helm
Last month at SST, we focused heavily on Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, not just as buzzwords, but as practical strategies that affect real businesses.
What we’ve noticed is that many organizations have a backup system in place, but few understand what recovery involves if something goes wrong. There’s a big difference between having a backup and knowing how to restore operations quickly with minimal disruption.
BCDR isn’t just about data; it’s about keeping people productive, serving clients, and making decisions when the unexpected happens. It’s about reducing uncertainty when everything else feels uncertain.
As leaders, we may not always choose the challenges we face, but we can decide how prepared we are to handle them. That’s what we’re focusing on within ourselves, with our clients, and in the conversations, we’re starting on Unscripted with SST.
— SST Leadership
Client Success Story: Building Resilient IT Architecture for Business Continuity
When onboarding new clients, SST performs a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to identify the maximum tolerable downtime (MTD), recovery point objective (RPO), and recovery time objective (RTO) for their businesses. A recent review with a customer revealed that critical processes run on a single server and a single Internet circuit without redundancy or vendor support.
SST worked with leadership to set MTD, RPO, and RTO goals and created a plan including a budget and phased investments. Both cloud and local server options were evaluated, but because of workflow and software needs, an on-premises virtualization server was selected. The solution included redundant power supplies, RAID storage, manufacturer support, and a firewall upgrade with increased throughput and dual-WAN failover.
Using image-based backups and offsite replication, the client now has a resilient, well-structured environment that aligns technology with business goals, eliminates single points of failure, and protects against costly downtime.
– Operations Manager
Proactive Insights: Business Continuity Is a Business Responsibility, Not Just an IT Issue
When most people think about BCDR, they immediately picture servers, backups, and IT teams. However, business continuity and disaster recovery go far beyond just the technology stack. Whether it’s a cyberattack, hardware failure, or a natural disaster, your ability to respond depends on how prepared your entire organization is, not only your infrastructure.
BCDR starts with asking the right questions:
• What systems are mission-critical to your daily operations?
• Who is responsible for decision-making if systems fail?
• How long can you stay offline before your productivity, revenue, or reputation are affected?
• When did you last test your recovery plan?
A proactive BCDR strategy aligns technology, people, and processes. It ensures your team understands their roles, not just how to reboot systems.
Why it Matters:
• 93% of companies without a disaster recovery plan go out of business after a major data incident
• The average cost of IT downtime for SMBs is $10,000 to $50,000 per hour
• Recovery isn’t just about restoring files, it’s about resuming operations with minimal disruption
• Proactive planning reduces stress and improves response time when incidents occur
• BCDR is becoming a critical requirement for cyber insurance, compliance, and client trust
If your recovery strategy hasn’t been updated or tested in the last 12 months, now is the time to review it. We’re here to help you turn planning into readiness.
SST News & Events
• Right of Boom Cyber Call – 9/1/25
• Right of Boom Cyber Call – 9/8/25
• Reedsburg Chamber Business After 5 – 9/9/25
• Winona “Journey of an Entrepreneur” – 9/10/25
• Rochester Chamber Cup Golf Tourney – 9/10/25
• Dubuque B2B Weekly Meeting – 9/25/25
• Hope House Radio Interview – 9/22/25
• Unscripted with SST Episode 10 – 9/25/25
• Incident Response Simulation – 9/26/25
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