Business Continuity: Are You Prepared?
Companies are increasingly dependent on technology, which is making the need for business continuity higher than ever. While most companies understand the need for a plan, what may be surprising is the potential financial risk: outages of less than 20 minutes can cost an organization more than $1 million, according to the IBM Global Study on the Economic Impact of IT Risk.
Surprisingly, a vast majority of companies do not have a business continuity plan in place, with only 17 percent of business continuity and IT security specialists surveyed reporting that their organization has a formal plan that is applied consistently.
How to prepare for business continuity
Are you adequately prepared for business continuity? Here are a few areas to consider:
Planning for smooth communications. In the event of an emergency, how will your employees communicate with each other and your customers? The business continuity plan should include how employees will reach each other and all others who are affected, including business partners, suppliers and customers. Most business owners are unaware that social media can also play a role during an emergency. Did you know, for example, that you can communicate with customers and employees by using Twitter or Facebook, even if you have no Internet service?
Accessing files and documents during a disruptive event. Not being able to access files and documents can paralyze a company and result in lost productivity, not to mention the effects this can have on customers. Storing your data in a central location or in the cloud may offer the solution, as it can be accessed from other sites or devices during an unplanned disruptive event.
Testing your plan. Once you have a plan laid out, you will need to test it. You can accomplish this in a variety of ways. One option is structured walk-through testing, where you find any gaps that might occur during an actual event. You can also conduct a checklist test, which would ensure that all basic requirements are meet. Or you could do a simulation testing, in which you would simulate an actual disaster to check the plan’s worthiness.
Do you need help getting prepared? WCA Technologies can help. We can design and implement business continuity systems to keep your business running smoothly during an unplanned disruptive event. Don’t wait until an emergency strikes. Contact us at 212-642-0980 today.
