A rapid succession of weather-related catastrophes in 2017 have resulted in billions of dollars in damages. In these uncertain times, no business will be completely safe from nature’s wrath, which makes it imperative they prepare. To help you do just that, we’ve created a checklist of everything your business needs to do to survive the next great catastrophe.
✓ A written business continuity and disaster recovery plan
A written business continuity and disaster recovery plan is easy to distribute among staff across all departments. It should clearly indicate vital information like methods of communication and employees’ remote work procedures.
Your disaster recovery plan should also be reviewed periodically, at least once or twice a year. Adjusting your business continuity and disaster recovery plans depends on the size, industry, and changing needs of your business.
✓ Uninterruptible Power Supplies
Power outages disrupt operations by cutting off access to your computers. And without backup power, unsaved work and business files may get lost and hardware may get damaged.
An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) provides a jolt of juice to your desktops until the electricity comes back on. With UPSs hooked up throughout your office, your staff have time to save work and properly turn off their computers.
✓ Cloud data backup
The cloud is the safest place for your business data and here’s why: In the event of disaster striking your office, your staff are unlikely to think about rescuing your computers and storage devices. Of course, personal safety comes first; but fortunately, in the cloud your data will stay safe, too.
Although it’s understandable for some businesses to save data to servers on-premises and cloud storage, putting all your important data in the physical servers creates a single point of failure.
Using cloud storage gives you the ability to back up files and easily retrieve them during the recovery process. What’s more, you don’t need to purchase any hardware that would be at risk in the case of flash floods, fire, or earthquake.
With Fluid Network’s VISIBLE-DP and VISIBLE-ARCHIVE backup plans, your company’s data and emails are automatically saved as you work. A programmed archiving function works in the background, so users don’t have to worry about manually saving their files, allowing them to work more efficiently and without fear of losing their files to disasters.
✓ Fully-tested backups
In case disaster strikes, there’s no way to know for certain whether your on-premises data was saved and is recoverable unless you test your backups. This is a potentially costly and time-consuming process for small-businesses due to budget and staff constraints, but that’s no excuse not to do it.
Similar to conducting fire drills, performing a backup test assesses your organization’s ability to survive a disaster unscathed. When testing your backups, make sure to take the following into account:
- Completeness and quality of data that may be retrieved
- Timeframe for retrieving and restoring backups
- The maximum amount of data your company can afford to lose
- Number of days and frequency for performing backups
✓ Cloud-Enable your Office
Extend your organization’s IT Infrastructure, Software, and Resources to the Cloud to provide further enhanced resilience. A Cloud Enabled Office™ provides an ideal solution for overcoming disasters and any other business disruption allowing enterprises to free itself from its office walls while balancing cost with productivity effectively.
✓ A trusted MSP
Even companies with an in-house IT team have a hard time consolidating all the elements of their business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Developing one requires well-defined strategies that ensure data can be recovered immediately after any kind of downtime event.
MSPs are not only able to guide businesses in customizing a plan, but they’re also adept at handling the more complicated aspects of backup automation and keeping company data backed up well before an actual storm hits.
of the multiple demands of running a business, planning for disaster often gets neglected. Fluid Networks’ certified engineers build a Cloud Enabled Office™ that gives SMBs the comprehensive, efficient, and secure IT solutions they need. For disaster-proof IT, call our experts today.