A Cheat Sheet to Preparing for Business Disasters

When disaster strikes your business, it can cause a lot of problems; and many of them aren’t a direct result of the disaster itself. It’s for this reason it’s important to prepare your technology for a potential disaster. Here are four of the best ways to get your technology ready.

Regular Data Backup

Having a comprehensive backup plan in place can make all the difference. The first thing you should consider is setting up automated backups to ensure data is regularly saved without manual intervention. You will also want to store backups in multiple locations, such as on-site, off-site, and in the cloud, to protect against local disasters. Finally, you will want to constantly test your restoration process to ensure that backups are valid and can be restored quickly if needed.

Have a Disaster Recovery Plan

No situation is better off without an iron-clad strategy. For disaster recovery, you will want to develop a detailed plan outlining steps to take before, during, and after a disaster. As your business grows, you need to re-engage with your processes. By keeping up with changes in technology, business processes, and personnel, you can ensure that your disaster recovery works when the time comes. Beyond that, you will want your people to know their roles in your recovery plan so make certain that you conduct regular training sessions and disaster recovery drills.

Cybersecurity Measures

In order to ensure that you have the data and network protection you need when situations go haywire, you need to implement strong firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems to protect against cyberthreats. These systems don’t do you any good if they are running outdated definitions, so make sure that you upgrade and update them regularly. Also, like anything else, your employees need to understand that they are on the front lines and require training to make certain that they aren’t liabilities in your quest to maintain organizational security. 

Set Up Necessary Redundancy

For comprehensive business continuity, you need failover options and redundancy to ensure that you can continue operations should there be a major outage of your onsite infrastructure. One of the best ways to facilitate this is through cloud computing. By using the cloud for critical applications and data storage, you can ensure you have the necessary resources to keep your business on its feet.

By incorporating these strategies, you can significantly enhance your technology's resilience and ensure a quicker recovery from potential disasters. If you would like some help, give the IT experts at Washington Works a call today at 301-571-5040.