Disaster Strikes - Do you have a Plan? Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning

Category: Business Law and Planning

With the anniversary of 9/11 coming up and the mess of Katrina in our minds and hearts, business owners need to ask themselves the question of how their business might survive a disaster. What immediate contingencies are in place? How soon could you be up and running? Where would that be? Has the plan ever been tested?

A disaster does not need to be of the scale of a terrorist attack attack or hurricane to damage your business. It could be a fire, structural issues with the building, a highway accident that closes a major roadway, electrical outages, flooding, or a myriad of items that you see on the news every night happening to "other people"

Preparing a disaster recovery plan does not have to be expensive and complicated. It is mostly of process of gathering and organizing information. The costly aspect of the planning is how you are backing up and protecting your data.

A Disaster Recovery Plan will consist of:

1 - Emergency contact information for all employees and key vendors, with a plan of how to contact people (phone tree, call in number, web-site) and what information will be needed to given to or received from vendors.

2 - A hierarchy of who will do what in the event of an emergency to make sure all functions are covered.

3 - Equipment lists, so you can replace what you need to function.

4 - Data backup that is frequently tested for integrity.

5 - Copies of the plan distributed to key employees and stored off-site.

6 - An annual reivew and updating.

One resource is The Disaster Recovery Guide: "This guide to Disaster Recovery Planning is intended to be a launch pad for those seeking help with the business continuity planning process. It offers information, guidance, tips, and links to a range of resources. "