Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Business

Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Business

Having a disaster recovery plan in place for your business is essential to ensuring your company’s longevity and security. Most businesses either completely neglect to consider their needs if a catastrophe were to occur, or they create a disaster recovery plan and never follow through with the steps that they have outlined.

The point of a disaster recovery plan is to keep your business running as smoothly as possible after a disaster. Mind you, hopefully, the moment will never come, but it’s best to consider all possibilities and be prepared for the worst.

1.   Critical Jobs. Make a list of all the employees you have and all their job titles. Which jobs are absolutely crucial to keeping your business running? For some businesses it may be their customer service attendants, their accountants, their web developer. In times of necessity Sales can probably be held off for a while. These critical jobs are the ones you need to have running as quickly after the disaster as possible. Have a plan for where they can be relocated quickly if disaster strikes.

2.   Necessary Equipment. If an emergency does occur, time, money, and space will all be limited. Make a list of the bare minimum, absolutely crucial equipment your employees will need to continue doing their jobs. Computers, telephones, cash registers, data servers etc. Obviously they will probably need some desks and chairs as well.

3.   Back up Important Files. If your business runs on information you are playing with fire if you don’t already have a backup for your critical files. Customer information, financial files, etc. should all be backed up in case of emergency. If you need daily access to electronic information have it backed up in a way that you can retrieve it and get back to work. Even small, freak accidents like a virus, Trojan horse, or electrical fires could cost your business thousands without proper data backup.

Online storage, or cloud storage, is an affordable storage option that will keep your crucial files safe in an offsite location. Online storage providers host their solutions over the Internet but keep their clients’ information in data centers, typically in eastern Texas or California. By keeping your data backup offsite you can rest assured your information will be safe if a disaster affects your work place.

4.   Budget. Have an understanding of how much relocation and purchasing new equipment will cost you. If you can, have some money set aside in case of emergency. The lists you have compiled will help you get up and running more quickly. You will be able to simply hand your budget and list of necessary equipment over to your insurance agent and a check will be sent to you promptly.

5.   Using Your Recovery Plan. Make sure the people in charge know and understand your disaster recovery plan. Keep a copy at home; if it gets damaged in the disaster it won’t do you any good. Revisit your disaster recovery plan regularly.

Keys to a Successful Disaster Recovery Plan

Simply following the steps above will not assure you success after a disaster. You must be thorough and exhaustive. At first you should decide the scope of your project. Then enlist the help of key members of each department of your company. These people can help you gather more intimate information about their departments.

The process of creating your disaster plan will be a learning experience, and you surely won’t think of everything you will need in advance. As you discover more of the intricacies of your business, tweak your disaster recovery plan to better suit your needs.

Obviously the goal of your disaster recovery plan is to mitigate the risk of losses in case of disaster and to instill confidence in your investors and customers. A well-developed, well thought out plan will restore your day-to-day operations quickly. Understand that after a disaster time is your enemy. How quickly you respond and get back up to speed could mean the difference between saving your business or losing it.