Positive thinking will only get you so far and will be of little help should your network goes down. Think of a business continuity plan as an insurance plan for your technology infrastructure and your valuable data. Consider the repercussions to your business if you lost data or your technology infrastructure failed. How do you plan to recover?
If the wild weather of the past year has taught business owners anything, it is that disasters do occur and that smart businesses are prepared for failure in the event of a disaster. It is essential to have a backup plan in place that you can completely rely on in the event of a system failure. A fail-safe backup plan will lower the risk of data loss and mitigate the overall damage to your business.
1. Expect failure
Effective contingency planning requires a vivid imagination. Detail potential technology failure scenarios and document a plan for each situation.
Test your plan
to make sure it works. And continues to work. Just because you haven’t used it, doesn’t mean you won’t need it. The day your system goes down is not the time to discover your backup plan isn’t effective — or hasn’t been updated to meet your current needs. Regular checks are essential.
2. Designate responsibility for the plan
Put someone in charge of the plan. It is this person’s responsibility to implement the backup plan, validate the plan, and test the plan. The responsible party needs to ensure that everyone understands the plan. This person also must check for possible glitches on a regular basis. This is especially important when new systems are implemented. Be sure to follow a disciplined approach to adding and updating the business continuity and backup plan anytime there is a change to your technology infrastructure.
3. Institute checks and balances
We recommend a multi-faceted approach to ensure that multiple parties independently share ultimate responsibility for backing up your valuable data and validating the contingency plan. You cannot afford to have little things fall through the cracks. These little things could become very big problems in the event of a failure. An essential component of checks and balances includes testing and retesting the plan and adjusting appropriately for any weaknesses that appear during testing.
5. Continually refine the plan
The most effective technology infrastructures are usually in a state of flux. A plan that was once good enough for today, might not be good enough for tomorrow. There is always room for improvement. The person in charge of the business continuity plan should take your requirements, budget, and risk tolerance into account and refine your contingency plan accordingly.
6. Partner with a reliable IT firm
A reliable IT partner is essential. The right IT provider will handle all the details of implementing and testing your system backup, storage and recovery so you can focus on running your business. You don’t have time to worry about your technology. Partnering with technology experts can save you time, money, and stress in the long run.
We don’t believe in a one-size fits all approach. Our technology experts will customize a backup solution that meets your business’ specific goals and budget. Regardless of your needs, you can rely on Digital Flow to keep your valuable data secure and your systems running.