Kit Merker has been in technical and management roles for over a decade, doing everything from project management, coding, design, testing, and running a service. He currently works at Microsoft as a Developer Evangelist. Kit Merker has a blog dedicated to preparing for software disasters. Be sure to follow Kit on Twitter after reading his guest blog post below! 
These are times of economic uncertainty for many businesses, and the very idea of spending much-needed funds on something that might happen may seem like suicide. According to CIO.com,  business continuity & disaster recovery is NOT a top priority for CIO's.

It's a normal human tendency to stay optimistic and believe that you are immune from disaster. We say, "that'll happen to other people, I'll hope for the best and focus on my day-to-day activities."

But, as I say probably too frequently, hope is not a strategy.
Imagine if a disaster hit and you sustained serious downtime, got hacked, or lost data your customers needed. The results would be disastrous for your reputation and could mean the end of your business. You'd be kicking yourself for not preparing.
But just like a teenager learning to drive, sometimes getting in an accident helps you learn to operate more safely. The good news is that there are practical things you can do to reduce your risks of software disaster.