Every year businesses of all sizes are affected by catastrophic events ranging from cyber-attacks to natural disaster to human error. Can you relate? Sure...but most business owners commonly think “I mean, come on…how often does a catastrophic event happen in which MY business would be in jeopardy?”

I’m glad you asked! Let’s bring it a little closer to home for you. Citizens living in Texas RIGHT NOW are currently living in fear as they wonder what disaster the storm, Hurricane Harvey, will bring.

As an owner, do you ever wonder what kind of repercussions events such as this could have on your business? If Hurricane Harvey were to hit your physical location this weekend, would you have a plan in place that consists of all the critical information to keep the lights running?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news…however if you haven’t already, it’s time to make a plan. A Business Continuity Plan. In this day and age, due to the unknowns and the risks that are associated with them, every business large or small MUST plan for the worst.

A Business Continuity Plan is a plan that states the essential functions of your business, identifies the systems and processes that would need to be sustained in such an event, and contains detailed direction on how to maintain these systems during a possible business disruption.
If your business does not have a plan in place, you’re not too late. Here are some questions to get you thinking about the right recovery process:

  1. How would my business function if desktops, laptops, servers, internet, etc. were unavailable?
  2. What are the critical outsourced relationships and dependencies?
  3. What critical security or operational controls are needed if systems are down?
  4. What single points of failure exist?
  5. What are the key skills, knowledge or expertise needed to recover? Do we have these resources?

After mulling over these questions, you can start to create your plan. Don’t get me wrong. This is a process…however, here are several steps that should be included and will provide direction:

  • Initiating the project
  • Information-gathering phase, featuring business impact analysis and risk assessment
  • Plan development
  • Plan testing, maintenance, and updating

Your IT Business Continuity Plan should include more than just getting your computers back online and getting your data back. There’s so much more involved, and we’re happy to help. Don’t wait for a disaster to strike to begin your plan. Give us a call today and we will help evaluate your systems and help to expect the unexpected.