Are you certain your company will survive in a disaster…. large or small?

Good business continuity plans will keep your company up and running through interruptions of any kind: power failures, IT system crashes, natural disasters, supply chain problems and more.

There are the typical natural disasters of floods, hurricanes, snowstorms, but most disasters that happen are of a more “mundane” type. For anyone who thinks natural disasters are the leading causes of data loss – and that the chances of it happening to them are pretty slim, they need to take a look at the results from a study by Strategic Research Corporation of the leading causes of business continuity and disaster recovery incidents:

Hardware Failures (servers, switches, disk drives, etc) – 44%.
Human Error (mistakes in configurations, wrong commands issued, etc) 32%
Software Errors (operating systems, driver incompatibility, etc)14%
Viruses and Security Breach (unprotected systems are always at risk) 7%
Natural Disasters 3%

Loss of data is a common problem for businesses. Fortunately, it’s a problem that can easily be avoided with the correct preparation. While devastating amounts of data can be lost during catastrophes like hurricanes, the September 11 terrorist attacks, fires and floods – it doesn’t take such large events to cause a business to lose important data. It can be as simple as dropping a laptop to the floor, or a power surge that results in burning out a storage device. If a company doesn’t have crucial data backed up, even a small situation can turn into a disaster.

Disaster recovery and business continuity planning are processes that help organizations prepare for disruptive events—whether those event might include a hurricane or simply a power outage caused by a backhoe in the parking lot.

Unfortunately, if a company waits until they need a plan to devise a plan it will be too late. A business continuity plan (BCP) will outline the steps a company will take immediately after a disaster takes place. This plan will determine how they will continue operations as well as recover and restore any data that was compromised. Without a plan of action for the minutes, hours and days immediately following a disaster, a business will likely not survive.

A company’s entire staff must be prepared for a disaster and trained accordingly. Mandatory training and testing is needed to spot weaknesses in the plan. Once a business owner feels their plan is effective and everyone is prepared for a disaster, they should be careful not to fall into a false sense of security. Its BCP should be routinely tested and updated to reflect their current operating systems.

Here are 10 things that should be covered in a business continuity plan:

Analysis of potential threats - plan should cover contingencies for as many threat types as possible
Areas of responsibility - assignment of areas of responsibility and establishment of a chain of command
Emergency contact information - up-to-date contact information on people and entities that may need to be contacted when a disaster occurred. Information should be included for both internal personnel (CEO, CIO, legal advisor, etc.) and external personnel and services (police, fire, ambulance, security services, utility companies, building maintenance, etc.).
Recovery teams - appoint members of a disaster recovery team (DRT) made up of specialists with training and knowledge to handle various aspects of common disasters. A business recovery team is responsible for reestablishment of normal operations after the crisis is over.
Off-site backup of important data - restoration of company’s important digital data if it is destroyed. key personnel should know where it’s stored and have the keys, passwords, etc., to be able to restore it to get users back to a productive state as soon as possible.
Backup power arrangements - plan for what to do in case of a long-term outage. Ensure that key personnel know how to switch to generator power and know the fuel requirements for the generators.
Alternative communications strategy - If a company’s phones and/or Internet connection are down, how will they keep in touch with customers, employees who are off-site, contact emergency services, etc.? A BCP should note which employees have cell phones and their numbers. If a company runs its own e-mail servers, do key employees have alternative e-mail addresses that they check regularly (home accounts or accounts with Web-based e-mail services, etc.).
Alternative site of operations - plan for setting up operations at an alternative location if the building is destroyed or rendered unusable by a disaster. Another option is to set up or note remote capable workers.
Essential equipment/services backup - lay out how the equipment or its functions will be replaced (for instance, switch to a Web hosting or e-mail hosting service until able to replace servers and get those operational again).
Recovery phase - address the step-by-step process of recovering and reinstating the business operations to a pre-disaster state, including assessing the damage, estimating recovery costs, working with insurance companies, monitoring the progress of the recovery process, and transitioning the management of the business operations from the recovery team back to the regular managers.

IntegrIT Network Solutions is here to help you with your business continuity planning needs. Our business continuity planning experts incorporate industry-leading best practices to create responses to almost any type of disaster or unplanned events. Together we’ll create a business continuance organizational plan that clearly outlines the actions and responsibilities to help recover and restore critical operations. And with the expertise of the IntegrIT team, this plan will continue to evolve, producing new responses as potential threats develop. Each day that companies put off their continuity planning increases the risk of total loss. Don’t wait to start the conversation.

Let IntegrIT’s technical experts review your current Business Continuity Plan or talk with you about developing your plan. Contact us today for a free consultation at 425.787.0193 or 866.578.6220.

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