How prepared is your business for an emergency—a power outage, a hurricane, or, heaven forbid, the sudden absence of its CEO? All sorts of scenarios could damage your business if you haven’t proactively planned for them.
For Business’ Sake
According to the Institute for Business and Home Safety, approximately 25% of businesses do not reopen after a major disaster. Sarbanes-Oxley even requires publicly traded companies to have plans for data protection in case of disaster. Small businesses are particularly at risk because their operations are usually based in one location that could get damaged or destroyed. However, many small businesses don’t have either disaster recovery or business continuity plans.
The Difference Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Disaster recovery gets your technology back in operation after an emergency. This includes challenges such as:
- accessing your computers
- restoring your backup
- getting the server back online
However, this plan doesn’t address getting your business running again.
Business continuity is more comprehensive, considering issues such as:
- how employees will continue to communicate
- where they will work
- how they will keep doing their jobs
- what they will tell clients
- where the information to make insurance claims is stored
- who has the power of attorney
In short, a disaster recovery plan may get your computer running again, but business continuity is your strategy for staying in business.
It Could Happen to Your Company
Consider this potential business disaster. Your company’s bank account gets hacked, and you’re out of cash. Thankfully, you have a business continuity plan. Your tech partner leads you to an overnight service that can give you a check for all receivables, minus 6%. You can get the check tomorrow, so you’re still in business.
Or maybe your office has been closed down from a fire. As part of your business continuity plan, you’ve made an agreement with a local hotel to rent you rooms, so you can quickly move employees to a temporary location. You already have money set aside for an emergency, and you’ve already set-up calls to forward to cell phones so you can stay in touch with clients.
Two Plans with One Swoop
If you’re going to create a disaster recovery plan, then it’s best to create a business continuity plan at the same time. The two strategies go hand-in-hand, and you can efficiently talk with the same key people about both of them. Considering how much companies rely on technology now, business executives need to collaborate with technology executives in the planning process.
Start Planning Now
We can help you develop the best disaster recovery and business continuity plan for your company, compatible with your cost-risk analysis. Contact us to learn more about keeping your business running smoothly—even if you’re suddenly not there.
