Business Continuity: Business as usual. No matter what.
Five steps every business should take to prepare for a business interruption.
When people think of disasters, they generally envision hurricanes, tornados or floods – catastrophic events that devastate communities. However for a business, a disaster can be something as small as a failed switch or computer virus. These seemingly minor events can have a shocking impact on a business, often bringing operations to a standstill.
“The impacts of an interruption can be stunning,” says Bob Boyd, President and CEO of Agility Recovery Solutions, the industry leader in mobile business continuity solutions for small to mid-sized businesses. “Statistics indicate that about 60 percent of the businesses affected by a disaster will not survive because they do not have a recovery plan in place.”
Creating a basic, executable business continuity plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your organization and assure business as usual – no matter what the scenario. Below are five key steps to help you get started.
1. Assess your critical business functions.
Evaluate and document how your company functions and determine which processes, employees, equipment and materials are critical for your daily operations. Critical business functions include such things as billing, payroll and service fulfillment. List these functions and determine a process for restoring them in the event of an interruption.
2. Plan for an alternate location.
What would you do if your building were inaccessible tomorrow? Where would you go to continue basic business operations? Review your site requirements and determine a plan for recovery. Alternate site options include your home, a branch or second location, the site of a similar business, or a vendor that provides mobile recovery.
3. Back up your data and plan to restore your technology.
In today’s highly technical economy, information is more valuable than ever. Having an automated, daily back-up system for important data is crucial. Make sure to store your data in an offsite, safe and secure location, preferably 50 miles or more from your site. Regularly verify that you are able to retrieve your data. Outline a plan to replace PCs, software, servers, printers and fax machines should your office be destroyed.
4. Create an employee, vendor and key client communication plan.
Create a 24-hour phone tree for all employees and their spouses or closest relatives. Make sure your employees know ahead of time how to exchange or obtain information should standard lines of communication fail. Also, compile a list of your critical clients and vendors and store it in an offsite location. Determine a process for contacting them should your systems go down.
5. Take a look at your insurance coverage.
Is your insurance coverage adequate? Sit down with your agent to assure that you are insured for potential risks. Consider business interruption insurance, which may compensate you for lost income should you experience a disaster. Make sure you keep photos of your building, equipment lists and policy information stored in a safe and secure offsite location.
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“Over the years, we have successfully recovered hundreds of businesses who’ve taken the time to prepare,” says Boyd. “And we’ve also seen businesses with no plan in place that are powerless to resume operations. There is no worse feeling for a business person and no worse fate. The ability for your business to survive depends on preparations made today.”
Whether drawing up a plan to protect your business operations from any issue, managing IT remotely or planning and implementing your company’s cloud migration, eMazzanti Technologies retains thetrained and certified IT experts to help you prosper in all kinds of weather.
Carl Mazzanti is Co-Founder and President of eMazzanti Technologies, Microsoft’s four time Partner of the Year and one of the premier IT consulting services for businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area and internationally. Carl and his company manage over 400 active accounts ranging from professional services firms to high-end global retailers.
eMazzanti is all about delivering powerful, efficient outsourced IT services, such as computer network management and troubleshooting, managed print, PCI DSS compliance, green computing, mobile workforce technology, information security, cloud computing, and business continuity and disaster recovery.
Carl Mazzanti is also a frequent business conference speaker and technology talk show guest and contributor at Microsoft-focused events, including frequent prominent roles at the Microsoft Inspire (Worldwide Partner Conference / WPC).
Carl, a serial Entrepreneur, gives back to the community through Entrepreneur teaching engagements at Georgetown University, the company’s ocean wildlife conservation effort, the Blue Project, and Tree Mazzanti.
