Is your IT system ready in case of a disaster? Find out what to do if the worst happens!
Being a business owner is fulfilling but it can also be stressful and even scary. There is an untold number of ways that disaster could strike your business. The news is full of reports of cyber attacks on businesses, from ransomware to hacking. There are also physical and natural disasters, from floods to major storms, to burglary. Through anything that life sends your way, your business needs to be able to maintain safety and security, and your services need to be as uninterrupted as possible. For that to happen, you need to have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place before disaster strikes.
Start With a Team
You simply cannot build a comprehensive disaster recovery plan on your own. Start by building a team to help you determine your needs for business continuity. You should have a senior member of each sector on the team so they can identify critical risk areas and prioritize operations for their department. Together, you can all work to create the plan and to create any sub-teams or sub-committees needed to roll out the plan.
Conduct A Business Impact Analysis
A business impact analysis is a means of determining the tangible and intangible ripples that might result from a loss of business continuity. This includes looking at internal and external business processes, the interactions your business has with suppliers and consumers, and the revenue generation value of various parts of your daily business. This analysis should also cover intangible aspects, like the potential for loss of consumer or stockholder confidence. You can use this information to rank and prioritize processes and operations.
Plan, Train, Test
Once you’ve completed the first two steps, you will have all of the information you need to formulate a disaster recovery plan. For this plan to be truly comprehensive, it must take into account every possible risk to every area and level of your business. It needs to cover every single process that affects the daily operation of your business and it must ensure that critical function is maintained no matter what. Once you have formulated the plan, you need to train your employees. Each department, and maybe each individual employee, will have critical roles to play in the event of a disaster, so they must be confident in their knowledge and ability to implement them. Finally, once everyone is trained, you need to test the plan. Running through the actions for each department will help you see holes or weaknesses in the plan so you can improve them before a real disaster strikes.
En-Net Services Can Help Today
Experience a superior method of getting the public sector technology solutions you need through forming a partnership with En-Net Services. Our seasoned team members are familiar with the distinct purchasing and procurement cycles of state and local governments, as well as Federal, K-12 education, and higher education entities. En-Net is a certified Maryland Small Business Reserve with contract vehicles and sub-contracting partnerships to meet all contracting requirements.
To find out more about our hardware services, printing, and imaging services, or to hear more about how a dynamic team can help meet your information technology needs, send us an email or give us a call at (301)-846-9901 today!