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Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2016
With recent climate changes and flash flooding happening across the United Kingdom. Are you asking yourself the following question: "Do you have a disaster recovery plan in place for your business and it's computer data?"
FACT. 1 in 4 businesses never re-open their doors after a disaster. It is one of the minor things that many businesses, especially small ones’ overlook when they are just starting up; disaster recovery planning, but don’t forget it too long! That decision could come back to haunt you one day, especially when you least expect it!
Disaster Recovery Planning is one of those things that you simply can’t afford not to have. Here at Commercial Property Broker we have an 'easy-to-follow' five step 'disaster recovery plan' procedure that your business can follow to help prevent any risks.
Before you even look at recovering and planning for any possible disasters, ensure that your insurance cover is not only up to date but that it will cover your costs should the worst occur. Check your policy, look at the section under ‘Business Interruption’ and make sure it covers what you need.
This is an important part of creating your disaster recovery plan. Create a list of what could affect your business. Then rank them on the likelihood and also the damage they could do.
It doesn’t have to be as thick as an encyclopedia. The best thing to do is just start off with the basics and move on from there. Over time you can add to your Disaster Recovery Plan, adding more details and solutions to problems. Make sure you also set out an Information Technology Disaster Recovery Plan (IT DRP). Losing valuable computer data could prove to be disastrous towards your business. An IT DRP should be developed in conjunction with a business continuity plan.
Don’t just write your disaster recovery plan and then leave it at your business premises or on your laptop. Print out a hard-copy or back it up to a cloud-based data site where you can recover it when you need it most. Make sure all of your managers are aware of the disaster recovery plan and the action to take should anything occur.
Having a disaster recovery plan is fantastic, but don’t wait until a disaster occurs to find out if it works. Make sure that you test disaster scenarios out wherever possible, practice with your team and managers to ensure all of your employees understand what it is they have to do to achieve your Recovery Plan Objective (RPO)
Preparation may cost you a small amount of your time and money in the beginning. However, if the worst should occur, consider the possibilities of having an up-to-date and well thought out disaster recovery plan. It could end up saving not only your business one day, but perhaps a life!
Click here to download suitable worksheets and find out more information on creating a 'Disaster Recovery Plan'.
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