{"id":507,"date":"2019-10-01T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T00:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oztera.com\/?p=507"},"modified":"2021-12-03T17:41:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T17:41:31","slug":"is-your-business-sustainable-in-the-event-of-a-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oztera.com\/is-your-business-sustainable-in-the-event-of-a-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your business sustainable in the event of a disaster?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is difficult to watch the news.<\/strong>\u00a0Lately, Mother Nature seems to be testing our resolve with devastating hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and much more. Across the world, we have faced extreme droughts and flooding. We have seen record heat and record-breaking cold. The impact has been widespread and frightening.\u00a0 Who knows when and where the next trouble spot might occur?<\/p>\n

While the nature and timing of the next natural disaster is unpredictable, our response need not be.\u00a0 With some advanced planning, we can minimize the impact on our personal and professional lives.<\/p>\n

Many businesses have taken basic precautionary steps for their most important data.\u00a0 They have offsite backups that are made on at least a daily basis. But as recent events have shown us, this is often not good enough.<\/p>\n

What happens when an entire geographic area is impacted, with no power or cell coverage for days?<\/p>\n

While you may be able to access your data files, how will you restore critical software and business applications? Connect to your employees? Notify customers of delays in shipments?\u00a0 Communicate with suppliers?<\/p>\n

As an affiliate of a high-tech company, Oztera has worked with large corporate clients who require us to conform with their disaster recovery plans. We have had the benefit of learning from their requirements for vendors to have contingency planning and preparations and have had to meet their standards.<\/p>\n

What we have learned are valuable lessons for companies of all sizes. If you haven’t had at least an annual meeting to discuss your plans in the event of a disaster, we suggest you schedule such a meeting before the end of the year. Here are some items you may want to cover in your meeting with management and your Information Technology professionals (see below for a checklist):<\/p>\n

Item to Discuss\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes<\/strong><\/p>\n

No<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Do you have a\u00a0well-documented<\/strong>\u00a0Disaster Recovery Plan?<\/p>\n

It should be in writing, not in one or two key people’s heads.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Do you have a\u00a0Disaster Recovery Team<\/strong>\u00a0who will perform all the related tasks?<\/p>\n

If not, consider key resources who should be included and form one.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Does your plan clearly identify all the recovery steps and responsible personnel for those steps in a\u00a0simple checklist<\/strong>\u00a0format?<\/p>\n

Make it easy to follow in times of crisis.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Have you documented how often your data is being backed up for all your databases, drives, and applications?<\/p>\n

Weigh the cost of reworking data entry and inputs against the extra time spent in backing up more frequently.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

5. Do you\u00a0routinely test<\/strong>\u00a0your back up plan to make sure data is being packed up as\u00a0frequently<\/strong>\u00a0as expected, and if the data is being backed up\u00a0properly<\/strong>? (not corrupt or missing)<\/p>\n

Trust but verify.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

6. Have you identified the\u00a0sequence<\/strong>\u00a0of applications and data that must be recovered?<\/p>\n

The order in which applications are restored is often critical.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

7. Have you identified at least 3 possible\u00a0backup office<\/strong>\u00a0locations in case of an emergency?\u00a0 (Someone’s home, or public office like Regus Business Center Offices)<\/p>\n

Entire geographies can be wiped out in a single incident.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

8. Have you identified what pre-printed forms\/checks\/documents<\/strong>, printers, and other\u00a0equipment<\/strong>\u00a0is needed to quickly set up a backup office?<\/p>\n

Or created electronic or online alternatives?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

9. Is access to your servers possible if local power goes out? (Do you have access to power generators?<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Can you access their location in an emergency?\u00a0 Do you have alternate sources of power?\u00a0 Are there others with keys who can access your office if needed?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

10. Is access to your servers possible if internet access goes out? (Secondary internet<\/strong>\u00a0provider?)<\/p>\n

Consider backup Internet access via Fiber and DSL.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

11. Do you have backed up\u00a0electronic copies<\/strong>\u00a0of your important documents?<\/p>\n

12. Can your key employees\u00a0work remotely<\/strong>?\u00a0 (Laptop access?)<\/p>\n

And do they have proper security installed on their remote computers?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

13. Do you have an\u00a0internal communication\u00a0<\/strong>plan during an emergency?<\/p>\n

Is there a master list of mobile phone numbers? Place\/plan for sharing messages?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

14. Do you have an\u00a0external communication\u00a0<\/strong>(clients and vendors) plan during an emergency? (who should communicate what, and how often\/at what phases?)<\/p>\n

Who should communicate what, and how often\/at what phases? What about Social Media?\u00a0 Who owns the message?<\/em><\/p>\n

15. Is the data on your employees’\u00a0local<\/strong>\u00a0machines being\u00a0backed up<\/strong>\u00a0on your servers daily?<\/p>\n

Data stored outside of\u00a0 your central server could be permanently lost.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

16. Can your business be turned back on\u00a0within 4 hours,\u00a0<\/strong>or within your required minimum period?<\/p>\n

17. Do you have at least\u00a03 experts<\/strong>\u00a0who can execute the recovery plan?<\/p>\n

Share the responsibility across members of your team.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

18. Was the plan fully tested by your Disaster Recovery Team within the last\u00a06 months<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

19. Do you\u00a0formally<\/strong>\u00a0evaluate your Disaster Recovery Plan at least\u00a0once a year<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Needs and responsibilities could change over time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

20. Have you\u00a0shared<\/strong>\u00a0your most\u00a0up-to-date<\/strong>\u00a0organization’s Disaster Recovery Plan with the Disaster Recovery Team, your key employees, and the executives\/owners?<\/p>\n

Do you have a Disaster Recovery Team?<\/em><\/p>\n

21. Do you\u00a0audit<\/strong>\u00a0your mission critical\u00a0vendors or partners<\/strong>\u00a0annually to make sure they have an adequate Disaster Recovery plan?<\/p>\n

And share your plan with your customers?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is difficult to watch the news.\u00a0Lately, Mother Nature seems to be testing our resolve with devastating hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and much more. Across the world, we have faced extreme droughts and flooding. We have seen record heat and record-breaking cold. The impact has been widespread and frightening.\u00a0 Who knows when and where the next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs your business sustainable in the event of a disaster? - Oztera<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oztera.com\/is-your-business-sustainable-in-the-event-of-a-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is your business sustainable in the event of a disaster? - Oztera\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is difficult to watch the news.\u00a0Lately, Mother Nature seems to be testing our resolve with devastating hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and much more. 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