The term “disaster recovery” has been familiar to those in IT circles since the late 1980’s. However, back then disaster preparedness meant performing nightly back-ups and storing them offsite. Fed Ex delivered batch process runs, and companies contracted to have a replacement server delivered onsite within 48 hours. But the world has changed dramatically, and no segment of society has moved more rapidly than that of technology.
Waiting two days to get back online is no longer a practical solution – in fact, uptime and availability are critical for most businesses. Therefore we can no longer face preparedness in the same ways – and here in South Florida, facing hurricane season adds an entirely new level to make sure that business continuity is top of mind. With only 30 days to go before hurricane season, it’s time to take a look at your disaster plan and make sure you are covered.
Review Your Business Continuity Plan
If you have a disaster recovery/business continuity plan already in place, you have a short window of opportunity to guarantee that everything is in order. If you are a small business and have never put a plan in place, you can still take some basic steps to prepare your business and your customers should the worst occur.
- Have a communications strategy: Double-check to ensure that all of your employees and clients have updated their contact information so that you can reach them in the case of an emergency. You may wish to have several ways of touching base, such as email and text. Before hurricane season starts, you may wish to set up a “hotline” that employees and customers can call in the event of a major outage, in order to keep up to date with any important information.
- Consider “if/then” situations: If/then scenarios can assist in managing employee and customer expectations regarding what level of service they can expect before, during, and after a situation – and when they can expect a return to normalcy. For example, if road conditions are safe, then visits will resume within a week. Clearly communicate these scenarios to anyone who may be looking for information after the event.
- Add additional support hours: If you have the resources (and it is safe for your employees), you may want to offer extended hours to your customers. Your clients will likely have more concerns and questions than usual – and may need to reach you outside of normal business hours.
Have a Plan for Your Data
Over the last 12 months, businesses have had to develop alternative strategies for securing remote communications, networks, and workplaces. This has helped many learn to adapt rapidly and safely in unexpected situations. But while we’ve gotten good at reacting on the fly, it is always best to have a standard procedure in place as much as possible.
Those living on the Florida Gulf Coast instinctively know what to do when we hear that a hurricane is on the horizon. Employees and clients should understand what procedures to follow when a potential disaster is on the way.
When it comes to disaster preparedness, there is a myriad of options compared to 30 years ago. The cloud offers exceptional backup and security for networks on a daily basis, and keeps data safe even without a crisis. While hosted or on-premise servers may still have their place, it is now considered expensive and risky to keep data in one physical location. For those who live in disaster-prone areas (like us) cloud systems offer the opportunity to maintain uptime no matter what happens.
If you run a business in the Sarasota area, a consultation with a managed services company can help you to understand your current strengths and vulnerabilities in regards to disaster preparedness – and to strategize how to improve. The professional team at Alliance IT is here to help ensure that your business can weather any storm – hurricane or otherwise.
