Information technology plays an intimate role in how your business functions. From email communications among employees to processing payments, telephone systems, and data storage, there is not much within your business that functions without being connected to a laptop, wireless device or desktop computer. Knowing this, what are you prepared to do when the information technology upon which you rely stops working?
The short answer to this question is to develop a disaster recovery plan that is part of the business continuity plan. Strategies should include essential processes such as restoring hardware, data, and applications promptly.

Prioritizing Disaster Recovery Strategies

Disaster recovery strategies should focus on servers, networks, laptops, desktops, connectivity and any other technical device pertinent to your business. Single out priorities based on the priorities you have identified for essential businesses processes and functions. These should be identified when you and your management team conducted a business impact analysis. This is when you try to predict consequences of an unexpected disruption to your business.

Systems required for IT to function properly are centered on the software, hardware, data, and connectivity. When one component is missing, the entire system may not run at its optimal level. Therefore, any strategy, whether internal or vendor-related, in place should anticipate the loss of one or more of the system components.

Internal Strategies

One of the best internal strategies is to have hardware stored at an alternate facility. If your business is interrupted by an earthquake, hurricane or something similar, software and hardware that mirrors what you have at the primary site can be configured to run. Processing can continue since data was stored at the second facility.

Vendor-Supported Strategies

If you do not have an alternate facility to continue technical operations, some vendors provide sites during a disaster. Typically, these sites are fully configured with hardware and software products most commonly used among businesses. You would subscribe to this service and provide unique software or equipment in one of two ways. You can either store the equipment at the site or provide it after the disaster.

Other benefits to incorporating a vendor to your recovery plan is how they manage applications, security services and data streams related to your business. Any information can be accessed using a web browser from the primary or alternate site. If the vendor detects an outage, they will automatically hold data until your system is restored. With this in place, you never have to worry about lost time and/or data by contacting the vendor. A bonus is an enhancement to cyber security from vendors that offer malware threat detection and data filtering services.

Develop a Disaster Recovery Plan for Your IT Systems

Remember, disasters are unpredictable, but your ability to recover in a timely manner is not. Begin developing your disaster recovery plan by compiling an inventory list of all software applications, hardware, and crucial business data. All information critical to the continuance of your business should be backed up. Equally important is periodic testing of the plan to make sure it works.

SJC Tech
17381 Shelby Lane
North Ft. Myers, FL 33917
239-324-9039

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