In the last week, two earthquakes have shaken southern California, alerting us to the need to have our businesses prepared for a disaster, whether natural or manmade. Not only can fires, floods and earthquakes cause business interruptions, but so can systems failures, human error, malware and ransomware attacks. It’s never too soon to evaluate what needs to be done to prepare your business for a disaster. And a disaster doesn’t have to be large-scale; a power outage of an hour or two can be enough to stall business operations. Read on to learn about the most important things to do before an emergency
Make Data Protection a Key Part of Business Continuity
Data is the lifeblood of many businesses, its loss or compromise affecting their ability to do business. Data is needed for transactions and communications, among other functions, and even a short period of downtime can have a potentially disastrous impact on revenue and reputation. When considering the data protection aspect of your business continuity plan, focus on your mission-critical data and applications. What do you need in order to stay in business during a disaster, or recover afterward? Perhaps it’s customer records, or an in-house research database. Be sure to get mission-critical data backed up first, so your business can continue operating. Make sure there is failover—when one network backbone falters, another picks up the slack.
Different Methods Can Achieve the Same Goal
While the ultimate goal is to remain in business without compromise of revenue or reputation, different methods exist to realize this goal. However, one common thread is the idea of storing data offsite, in the cloud or in geographically diverse data centers. Throughout the working day, “snapshots” can be taken of business activity, and copies placed in these data centers, which adds an extra layer of security. Software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) are another good option, with multiple carriers providing redundancy and reliability. Finally, storing data in the cloud can help you access it in case you can’t get physical access to your office. Many tools exist for helping minimize the impact of a disaster.
Instead of waiting for a disaster to slow or stop your business operations, learn how protecting your data can keep your business running during and after a disaster. To evaluate your preparedness and make strides toward business continuity, contact your technology advisor today.