Data is the lifeblood of the organisation and any incidents, which stop access or result in a loss of critical data can have serious consequences for the business in terms of day-to-day operations and financial loss. This emphasises the ongoing need for back-up and recovery processes to be in place to minimise the effects of unplanned downtime and ensure the continuity of business processes. Paul Butler, principal consultant at Altiris, warns of the implications of not having sufficient processes in place to deal with the loss of business critical systems and data.