Master Of Disaster
Protecting your company before the worst happens
By Bill Blanchard
Picture for a moment that it's a cloudy Friday afternoon. The weather forecast calls for heavy rains with high winds to hit the area over the weekend. You're ready to lock up your office for the day and start to put together that large deposit for the bank after a great week of sales.
You take one last look at the office and wonder, "What if water starts to leak in from the street?" You look at your watch, realize that the bank closes at 4 p.m., and rush out the door.
Tangled Web We Weave
Oftentimes, disaster planning is one of the last things on a small business owner's mind. With so many other things to worry about, a natural disaster or terrorist attack is the last thing you need consuming your thoughts. However, by having good practices and plans in place, you can have peace of mind knowing that you're protected.
First, we'll start with the basics. Many companies are tight on space and, in an effort to maximize their work areas, computers and cables get lodged into the strangest of places. I've visited many offices that have all of their primary networking equipment on the floor in a closet. A simple remedy is to acquire some small stools or stands for your computer equipment. Also, make sure that those surge protectors stay off the floor as well. That one foot off the floor in a flood can mean the difference between having a powered down server or a very expensive doorstop.
Secondly, where are your company's critical documents and data stored? You have that expensive tape drive backing up your data nightly, but are you rotating the tapes? Are you bringing one home with you? An inexpensive peace of mind solution is to make a complete backup of all your data (either onto a tape, CD or DVD) and put it in a safe deposit box at the local bank. That way, if you forget to take a tape home one night or if your home is struck by the same disaster, you are protected.
It is also a good idea to keep all of your original documents in a safe deposit box as well. Things such as your business's articles of incorporation, accounting ledgers or insurance forms can be difficult to replace if they are destroyed in a fire or flood. You can maintain copies of these documents at your work site if you need regular access to them.
Money For Something
Third, what would a day of downtime cost your company in revenue? Even companies with on-site IT staff suffer from 24 to 48 hours of downtime in the event of a server failure. This is due to the specialized nature of server hardware and the time it can take to receive replacement parts. So, if a day of downtime would cost your company $10,000 in lost revenue, it might be worthwhile to consider spending a couple thousand on solutions to minimize that downtime. Such solutions may include a secondary internet connection, a VPN solution so that employees can work from home, or even real-time remote backup software. Even though backup solutions don't provide an immediate return on investment, they'll be worth their weight in gold if you ever need them.
Finally, the last step of protecting your company against disaster is having a plan in place. While you shouldn't spend hours fretting over everything that could go wrong, it never hurts to be thorough. With solid practices and planning in place, the wound your company suffers from a disaster doesn't have to be a fatal one.
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