SMART Blog

Business continuity is one subject that not a lot of people know a lot about. This is largely because there isn’t a curriculum that presents a comprehensive outline on how to deal with disaster. This month, we’re going to share some continuity strategies that work, regardless of the situation, to get your business coordinated and back up and running fast following an unfortunate situation.

As an agency owner, you’ve surely thought about what the future holds for your organization. However, one of the areas that is often overlooked is how you will respond in the event of a data disaster. How can your business bounce back from such a catastrophic event? One of the first steps is understanding your data backup and disaster recovery process, as well as how you can improve your current setup.

Sometimes Mother Nature simply isn’t on your side, or you’re unfortunate enough to experience a troublesome disaster that threatens to knock your business off its feet. While various parts of the world are known for experiencing deadly natural disasters, other regions might not be as prone to them, giving business owners the wrong idea. It’s not a question of whether you’ll be hit with a crippling disaster, but when.

Data might be the single most important asset of any business, but you would be shocked to hear about how many organizations don’t consider data loss to be a prominent threat. The fact remains that it doesn’t take an immense disaster to wipe out an entire infrastructure, and that you should expect the worst to happen regardless of how unlikely it is to do so.

Replacing your aging or broken-down hardware is a part of doing business, and one that few business owners want to think about before it must be done. Hardware is expensive and tricky to replace without experiencing at least some downtime. That’s not to mention arguably one of the most important questions you have to ask yourself: What do you do with your old technology that’s filled with sensitive data?

It doesn’t take much to derail a business. Even the slightest disruption in power can lead to an unexpected power-down, and something as simple as a severe rainstorm could lead to floods that wash away your data. The point stands that you have everything to lose, and without data backup and disaster recovery, your business practices could be in danger.

It’s every agency owner’s worst nightmare: one mistake, and all of their data is wiped out. This very situation happened recently to a hosting provider, and his story serves as a cautionary tale regarding data storage best practices.

Your agency’s data is its lifeline. Without it, you can’t hope to continue functioning, especially if you’re unable to recover it following a data loss disaster. Businesses that experience a devastating data loss and are unable to recover, are likely to go out of business within one calendar year following the incident. Is your business prepared to tackle a data loss disaster?

The continuity of your business should be a major priority, especially considering how you and your employees rely on your business for their livelihood. But believe it or not, there are many organizations that don’t give a second thought to the preservation of their data and critical assets. Nonetheless, you need to pay proper attention to how your organization handles problems like natural disasters, data loss, hacking attacks, and other hazardous incidents.

When it comes to your business’s technology infrastructure, the more basic it is, the better. Granted, a simple IT infrastructure isn’t always easy to install, especially when there are so many great solutions on the market that can be implemented to achieve optimal efficiency. Sometimes the best IT solutions are those that make your technology simpler to manage, and your network less complicated. That said, you’d think redundancy would complicate this formula, but it’s actually a necessity for your business continuity plan.

One of the most important aspects of any IT infrastructure is its data. In fact, it’s the sole reason your business continues to function properly. If you were to lose your data, would your organization be able to recover quickly, or would it sink to the depths of downtime and be swallowed by it?

Everything is fine and dandy in your office. Everyone is working at a desirable rate, and you’re getting more business than ever before. Then, disaster strikes. Your server overheats, causing irreparable hardware failure, and you’re immediately caught in a pickle. Operations screech to a halt, data is lost, and you’re stuck in a situation that puts your business’s future in jeopardy. Of course, all of this can be quickly remediated with a quality disaster recovery plan.

As a business that values its data, you need to have some sort of backup solution put into place. Otherwise, a disaster could put your business’s future on the line. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to make such an important decision on the fly. The first step toward integrating a backup solution for your business is to do your research and understand what your options are.

How prepared is your business for a disaster, and are you prepared for the right disaster? When it comes to making your organization's business continuity plan, the scenarios you plan for need to be realistic. Otherwise, all the hard work of planning will be for nothing.

If you are a business that doesn't have an IT support plan, then you're running on borrowed time. It's the nature of technology to eventually break, and when it does, it can disrupt the entire flow of your business. A reliable IT support plan is crucial to your business continuity plan. Without a plan, you will have a big mess on your hands.

It wasn't too long ago when a person could go to his or her local supermarket and rent a copy of their favorite movie on VHS. When that novelty fell off, you could still get the movies at your local video store. Every town had one. Whether it was a chain such as Blockbuster or a locally owned store, millions of people relied on the video store in their town for entertainment for the better part of a quarter of a century.