A Blackout Leads to Better Disaster Preparedness

Author: Craig Pollack Date: Oct 10, 2019 Topics: General Business Owner Blogs

This past weekend, the weirdest thing happened - our neighborhood was hit with a blackout.  In my area, this hardly ever happens.  Short of earthquakes (knock wood) and fires (knock more wood!), we're pretty devoid of the sort of ongoing threats the midwest or the east coast face. 

And while it wasn't long enough to be significantly impactful (it did end up being about 36 hours), it was long enough to make us seriously reevaluate our disaster preparedness. Because we have a gas stove, we could still boil and fry things, but forget about using the oven or any other major appliance. 

It did, however, make me rethink how much we take things for granted (ie: the uninterruptible power we've come to rely on) and further our ability to bounce back.  After the novelty wore off and there was no ETA for repair, my mind started racing through all the "what ifs?"  Which made me think about our clients and their ability to bounce back from a truly impactful business disaster.

But, beyond backup and disaster recovery lies the concept of "business continuity".  A true Business Continuity Plan (BCP) really goes to how you keep your business running in spite of a disaster. A true Business Continuity Plan is more than the steps required to restore some files. It's about how to ensure uninterrupted operation of your business or at least minimize as much as possible the interruption you might experience during a catastrophe. 

Often times, the difference between the two (un-interruption vs. minimal interruption) is, more than anything, based on the complex decision making calculation we all make between cost and risk. Unfortunately, it seems smaller companies commonly ignore the need for a BC plan, which leaves them highly vulnerable in the wake of a disaster.

While on the other hand, many larger companies who have BC plans themselves are starting to demand that their suppliers and strategic partners provide them with their Business Continuity Plans. The more critical the parts or service a company provides, the more detailed the plan must be. This requirement is actually a good thing, since without this push, smaller businesses tend to look into Business Continuity only after a loss, not before.

Just like every aspect of a consultative approach to IT, the BCP is based on the business' goals and objectives. An accounting firm may not need to be back up and running within hours (unless, of course, it's during tax season). But, an Investment Advisor may lose millions of dollars if they're down at a critical point during market hours.

Unfortunately, we're living in a time where the leaders of businesses still think "if we have a backup, we're good" and that anything (and everything) can be recovered at any time without any consideration to realistic costs or realistic preparedness. Please note - there's a HUGE difference between recovery and continuity. Setting the correct expectations from the outset is key. And one of the keys is the foundation of an off-site backup. And when I say backup, I mean of your whole server infrastructure - not just your data.  Again, we're talking about continuity here, not just recovery.

Another way to avoid a disaster is to keep your servers elsewhere all the time, relying on virtual desktop technologies, Infrastructure-as-a-Service, or Software-as-a-Service. Keep in mind though, the use of application hosting of any kind makes internet access that much more critical. So you need to consider the added ongoing cost of having a backup ISP available. Adding to this complexity is the twist of remote workers working from home. One of the best things about this approach is that remote and mobile employees are constantly testing your BC plan.

Which leads to another piece to the puzzle - it’s critical to look at the human element.  In smaller businesses, one person may do four things. You need to understand those jobs and document them so that someone else can take over if necessary.

How will you contact employees to coordinate the new working situation after a disaster? Decide on your phone call list now.  Do you have a list of all employees’ home and personal cell phone numbers? Is that list stored off-site?  Also, think beyond the typical IT equipment list. If you’re working from home, can you cut the checks needed? Who cuts checks if the printer is gone?

Such back-office operations are easy to forget, and many businesses with older accounting software may be limited to certain printers. Follow the workflow of back-office operations as part of your BC planning.  As you can see, a proper plan requires that all of these complexities have been addressed beforehand.

And conceptually, any BC plan is sort like insurance - you pay for something that you hope you'll never have to use.  But boy, when you need it, you're sure glad that you did it.  And lastly, always, always, always remember to consider where you store this plan and who has access to it. If you store it on your in-house servers, when it's time to access it, it'll be just like you didn't have one!

Just like anyone hit with a disaster, we're now shoring up own our home disaster preparedness.  Candles - check.  Matches - check.  Food - check.  Batteries - check.  Wifi hot spot - check.  Generator for wifi hot spot - check.  Never having to use any of this - priceless!

Do you have a Business Continuity Plan? When was the last time you tested it? Please share your thoughts in the Comment box below or shoot me an email if you’d like to chat about this in more detail.

Author

Craig Pollack

Craig Pollack

Craig is the Founder & CEO of FPA Technology Services, Inc. Craig provides the strategy and direction for FPA, ensuring its clients, business owners, and key decision makers leverage technology as efficiently and effectively as possible. With over 30 years of experience building the preeminent IT Service Provider in the Southern California area, Craig is one of the area’s leading authorities on how small to mid-sized businesses can best leverage and secure their technology to achieve their business objectives.

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