In business, things don't always go as planned. Occasionally, you might have to deal with situations beyond your control, such as natural disasters or theft. While you can't prevent unfortunate circumstances from happening, you can put in place an effective business recovery plan to reduce the risk of failure.
However, not many organizations have realized the importance of having a disaster recovery plan. Only 40 percent of businesses worldwide have an effective strategy in place, according to a recent poll by Insureon. If you are looking to develop a business recovery plan, this article will take you through the important things you need to know.
What Is a Recovery Plan?
A business recovery plan is an emergency strategy that contains all the actions you will take to protect your company in the event of a disaster. It must not only address data backup and disaster recovery but also include specific tasks for key personnel, damage assessment, communication strategies, and more.
Here are steps to build a reliable business recovery plan.
Assess Risk Levels
Before creating an effective business recovery plan, you need to assess your company's risk level. The first step is identifying possible threats and their likelihood to occur in your company. Some of these threats include failure of critical equipment, natural calamities, and man-made disasters. It would help if you also determined the intensity of the impact of each potential catastrophe. Once you have adequate information, prioritize developing a recovery plan based on the severity of each calamity.
Develop a Written Plan
A written business continuity-business recovery plan serves as a roadmap to follow when disaster strikes. It should be tailored to your specific needs and the organization's size. An effective documented strategy includes:
How employees, customers, and vendors get important information.
Activities your staff should do during an emergency.
Where records are kept.
What outside businesses or agencies need to be notified in case of disasters.
Budget, tools, and other important resources.
Insurance and Budget Analysis
The best way to protect your business against disaster is with proper insurance. Calculate the cost of your office inventory and find out the best coverage that falls within your budget. Having money set aside will safeguard you from making costly mistakes after a crisis hits.
Back-Up Important Data
Business recovery plans can only be as good as your data. Consider backing up critical information and documents to have them in case of a disaster. You don't want to waste time trying to remember where you filed a particular contract or confirmation email. Or worse, failing to find critical files when an issue arises. Protect yourself by regularly backing up important files on an external hard drive or cloud storage services such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
Have an Alternate Office Space
It is important to have a separate office away from your main business location for business continuity purposes. This gives you options should your employees not be able to get to work. Whether you set up the office in your home or hire a separate space, ensure you have internet connectivity for smooth operations.
Test and Revise the Business Recovery Plan
Once you've completed your business recovery plan, test it annually. After all, there's no point in creating a plan if you don't know how it will perform in an actual disaster. You should also update your plan regularly after making any significant changes.
How Can We Help?
A business continuity plan is often seen as an afterthought rather than something that should be integral to your company. However, following a successful plan can give you peace of mind and eliminate any potential disruption in case of an emergency. Contact us today if you are interested in learning how Sentinel can help your business recovery needs.