Keep Your Business Safe With a Disaster and Recovery Plan
Whether it’s a hurricane, or a wildfire, a cyberattack, or a flood – disasters can happen. If you’re not prepared, it can be devastating for your business. According to FEMA, almost 40% of businesses that experience a disaster never recover.
Is your business ready? Could you keep your business and systems running in the event of a disaster? If you’re not sure, you’re not alone. Studies have shown that 68% of businesses are unprepared – they have no written plan for disaster recovery or business continuity in the event of a disaster.
It’s important to be ready for any possible scenario, from a data breach to a natural disaster. Here are three critical elements to include in every plan.
- Create a Current, Comprehensive Inventory – Inventory everything including hardware, software, and apps, serial numbers, vendor contact info, and tech support. List passwords for cloud-based programs, CRM info, and data backups. In the event of a disaster, prioritize what needs to get restored first.
- Define Each Person’s Responsibilities – Should disaster strike, everyone should know their role. Define each team member’s responsibilities and make sure everyone knows who is responsible for deploying the plan and that they are familiar with the recovery process. Who is in charge of restoring systems? Who will make phone calls, and send emails? If needed, who will speak to law enforcement or the media? Make a master list and include responsibilities, phone numbers, and email contact info.
- Have a Communications Plan – Once everyone understands their role, they’ll need to have a clear understanding of how to communicate. During an event, communications may be disrupted. If that happens, it’s important to have an outline of procedures and processes for making contact in the event email or phone lines are down. Communication with your team, vendors, and customers is critical for success.
The middle of a disaster shouldn’t be the first time you run your plan. Make sure you’re prepared before you need to be. Conduct periodic reviews, live test your plan, and update it as needed. While no one wants to believe it can happen, the time to prepare is before an event happens.
Give us a call today and let us help you develop a plan to protect your business in the event the unthinkable happens.
