Maintaining a business’s presence and pace in a global economy is essential to survival. Customers could care less if business headquarters were just hit by a Category 5 hurricane, or have been swallowed by a sinkhole, or if their system is locked up because of a virus. All customers require is a speedy response to their requests. Failure to respond means a business has lost an order and potentially a longtime major client.
Smart Business talked to John Cantu, project manager at ATW Management Inc., North Texas, about how to ensure your business stays up and running — and profitable — in the event of a disaster or interruption.
Do you find that most companies are prepared for a disaster?
Almost every business has a business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan in regard to overall facilities, operations and personnel affected by disaster. But what most companies consider disastrous threats are weather-related or earthquakes or potential terrorist attacks. Smaller events, in physical scale, such as malfunctioning software caused by a computer virus or a power outage for an unforeseen amount of time, could end up being just as costly. When a disaster of this nature strikes, a business may realize its BC/DR plan has not kept pace with the ever-changing technological environment, and the need for an adequate IT BC/DR plan suddenly becomes glaringly apparent.
A downed communications system means being unable to communicate with employees and customers; in other words, a complete severing of the business lifeline. Vital data may become completely inaccessible for the duration of the power outage or the debugging of the virus, if not altogether forever lost, depending on the structure and configuration of the network.
What is lacking in most back-up systems?
Some managers view the battery back-up system as enough to constitute an IT-related disaster preparedness plan. Unfortunately, most uninterruptible power supplies currently in use are designed to last only long enough for users to save current data and to log out of the network.
IT-disabling events require proper equipment and data securely stored and backed up as well as protocol to react to and recover from the disaster. Once prioritized, the communications and IT systems most crucial to the business are the ones that need the most attention and protection.
