Disasters are inevitable, especially since modern living is more sophisticated and complicated than ever. Nowadays, businesses anticipate disasters more proactively as their landscape continues to fill up with more developments — both good and bad — every day.
It’s smart to take a proactive approach when it comes to disaster readiness, because it really is impossible to say how and when a catastrophe will strike. A proactive approach takes planning, and it makes use of historical and logical information to anticipate possible points of weakness and loss, and takes steps to address them long before an actual problem arises.
Businesses today should take disaster recovery planning very seriously. A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a component of corporate disaster readiness that addresses a company’s needs in order to normalize operations in the aftermath of a disaster, as well as steps to ensure operations experience as little disruption as possible.
Here are some key components you should look out for when constructing your DRP:
Communication plan
Maintaining communications in the course of a disaster is absolutely critical, and should therefore be on top of your list. Losing communications will significantly hamper your disaster response and surely delay your recovery process.
Make sure you have several secure channels of communication prepared, such as handheld radios, mobile phones, and internet-based media. This way, you can stay in touch with team members should one or more channels go down. It would also be smart to have redundancies, such as a backup (temporary) internet provider that is different from your primary provider.
Equipment plan
Since businesses nowadays rely more and more on the internet, the threat of disaster is raised twofold, as they worry not just about physical problems but also virtual ones. There no longer exists much distinction either — both physical and virtual disasters can have equally damaging effects on the business.
Protect your equipment by installing appropriate tools such as waterproof covers for general electronics and robust anti-malware and antivirus software for servers and computers. Cover all bases and leave nothing to chance.
Data continuity system
Data drives business, which is why there is a clear need to protect it. Often, it isn’t enough to protect data as if it were in a vacuum. For many companies, unsynchronized data can cause problems on top of the current disaster at hand. This is why it is important to consider data continuity systems.
A data continuity system can be as simple as a cloud-based environment where your current operational situation is mirrored so that it is up to date. Many IT managed services providers (MSPs) offer data storage and backup plans that double as continuity systems. This is made possible by powerful enterprise management software that maximizes cloud computing.
Service restoration plan
Service restoration aims at normalization — in other words, a business that survives a disaster should aim to return to their previous level of operations. In the event of city- or state-wide disasters however, it is very likely that your service providers themselves are also affected.
Talk to your vendors and service providers about how they can assure you of service restoration in the event of a disaster. Good providers will have their own DRP so that their service to you will be unaffected.
Protect your business by partnering with a provider that protects you. Arnet Technologies is Columbus’ premier cloud-based backup and recovery provider. We’ll ensure your business is back online no matter what disaster comes your way. Call today to schedule your strategy session!
