September is National Preparedness Month
Prepare Now to Avoid Business Interruptions

National Preparedness Month is held each September to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools.

When you think of disasters, you generally envision hurricanes, tornados or floods – catastrophic events that devastate communities. Lives are lost, property decimated and entire communities disrupted. But for a business, a disaster can be something as small as a failed switch or computer virus. There are also other risks of data corruption, embezzlement, espionage or even a leak in bathroom next door. Or, what about human viruses? Do you have a plan for a flu outbreak that keeps staff away from the office? These seemingly minor events can have a shocking impact on a business, often bringing operations to a standstill.

Did you know?

  • 90% of companies unable to resume operations within 5 days after a disaster are out of business within one year.
  • 78% of companies who suffer a catastrophe without a contingency plan are gone within 2 years.

But there's a great deal you can do to avoid becoming a statistic. Creating a basic, executable business continuity plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your organization and assure business as usual – no matter what the scenario. IT Solutions recently held two well-attended seminars on the topic of business continuity. If you missed them, we’re always available to meet with you one-on-one to review low-cost services and tools we can offer, including an easy-to-use tool for business continuity planning called Survivor or Statistic: http://www.survivororstatistic.com/

Here is just a sampling of the comprehensive analysis we provide for clients in our business continuity planning services:

1. Assess your critical business functions.
Evaluate and document how your company functions and determine which processes, employees, equipment and materials are critical for your daily operations. Critical business functions include such things as billing, payroll and service fulfillment. List these functions and determine a process for restoring them in the event of an interruption.

2. Plan for an alternate location.
What would you do if your building were inaccessible tomorrow? Where would you go to continue basic business operations? Review your site requirements and determine a plan for recovery. Alternate site options include your home, a branch or second location, the site of a similar business, or a vendor that provides mobile recovery.

3. Back up your data and plan to restore your technology.
In today's highly technical economy, information is more valuable than ever. Having an automated, daily back-up system for important data is crucial. Make sure to store your data in an offsite, safe and secure location, preferably 50 miles or more from your site. Regularly verify that you are able to retrieve your data. Outline a plan to replace PCs, software, servers, printers and fax machines should your office be destroyed.

4. Create an employee, vendor and key client communication plan.
Create a 24-hour phone tree for all employees and their spouses or closest relatives. Make sure your employees know ahead of time how to exchange or obtain information should standard lines of communication fail. Also, compile a list of your critical clients and vendors and store it in an offsite location. Determine a process for contacting them should your systems go down.

5. Take a look at your insurance coverage.
Is your insurance coverage adequate? Sit down with your agent to assure that you are insured for potential risks. Consider business interruption insurance, which may compensate you for lost income should you experience a disaster. Make sure you keep photos of your building, equipment lists and policy information stored in a safe and secure offsite location.

For a quick evaluation of your company’s business interruption preparedness, take our Survivability Index, located here. The results may surprise you.

For national information on preparedness visit http://www.ready.gov/business/index.html 

Don’t wait for disaster to strike before putting together a plan. Contact your VCIO or jim.higgins@itsolutions-inc.com  to learn more about IT Solutions’ business continuity planning options.