How to Create a Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Business
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A disaster recovery plan can help your business stay open and operating no matter what.
Living on the side of a volcano in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, business owners in Hawaii have a special understanding of the term disaster. Whether it’s a lava flow sent by Madam Pele, a fire, flood, or hurricane, you want to be prepared. Creating a ‘worst case scenario’ plan for your company will help you to keep your business running and your team employed, no matter what happens. Here’s some basics on how to create a disaster recovery and business continuity plan for your business.
1. Know Your Risks
Disasters happen. Knowing the potential risks of your location will help you be prepared and to create a more effective disaster recovery and business continuity plan. Some common disasters that can affect businesses include:
Natural disasters like floods, storms, and volcanic eruptions
A fire in or around your place of business
Internet outages
Computer failure
Theft
A zombie apocalypse (joking!)
2. Identify Your Critical Information, Systems, and Equipment
In the event of a disaster, think about what important systems or information could potentially be compromised. What do you need to keep your business running? Make a list. This can be things like:
Servers
Computers
Telephones
Credit card processing
Other equipment or tools
Utilities like electricity
Your physical location - the office or store front where you do business
Do you have important data backed up? Where is it stored? In our previous post, we discussed how to backup your data. Do you have back ups or duplicates of any other important tools or equipment like computers that could be used as a replacement in the event of a loss? Where are they stored? It’s a good practice to store backups and extras in a different location.
If you don’t have extra equipment, identify where you could get replacements. Know the cost and some different options for vendors. Depending on the nature of the disaster, local suppliers could also be affected, or shipping could be affected. This is where building relationships with vendors pays off!
3. Know Your People
Understanding who does what in your business may sound simple, but this is an important part of a disaster recovery and business continuity plan. It’s important to note team member roles. If someone is suddenly not able to perform their job, what will the consequences be? Who is able to fill in? Do you have team members cross trained? You want your team to be briefed on the plan.
4. Write Your Plan
Now that you have the information you need, it’s time to write up your plan. This is the cookbook, the manual, the playbook that, if done right, can help your business survive just about anything...well, maybe not those zombies...but you never know!
For each potential disaster, map out:
What could be compromised
How to respond
Who will do what
Backups you have
Estimated costs
Important contact information
The more adaptive and resilient you can be in your business, the better it is for everyone - your customers, your employees, and your community. Depending on your business, you may be an integral part of helping rebuild or recover from a disaster. You want to be on your feet and ready to step in. Having a disaster plan helps you do that.
P.S. Don’t forget to make some extra copies of your plan (electronic and paper) and keep them in a safe place!
Need help creating a disaster recovery and business continuity plan for your business?
We’re here to help! IT Kona has multiple years of experience creating disaster plans for high risk businesses, including energy companies. First, we’ll conduct an in depth consultation with you and your team to gain a detailed understanding of your business and your unique risks. Then, we’ll formulate a custom disaster plan for your business based on our blueprint.
Click here to set up a disaster plan consultation today.