Business Disaster Comes in Many Different Forms

In business, there are always issues that need to be met. Often, there are so many that finding which ones to give priority is a chore all in itself. Choosing the best path forward depends on the situation, so when you are considering your organization’s disaster recovery you have to take into account every troubling situation your business can encounter. This month let’s go through some of the most prevalent disasters that a business can face. 

What Makes It a Disaster?

Well, there is no real benchmark to define what constitutes a disaster. Basically, in business parlance, a disaster is a scenario that threatens to harm a business with downtime. Some disasters are worse than others, but they all share one thing: They take your business off the market. Whether or not a business is able to come back from a disaster is all about having a plan in place that can make it possible. 

Let’s go through some of the most common disasters businesses may need to plan for:

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters are what you think about when you hear the word “disaster”. The type of natural disaster that your business has to plan for is typically geographical; although there are a couple of these that can affect your business no matter where you set up shop. Let’s take a look at some examples: 

• Hurricanes/Typhoons - Coastal regions have to deal with these powerful storms that bring high winds, rain, hail and often result in significant flooding. 
• Earthquakes - Some areas have seismic activity that is enough to leave buildings damaged or destroyed. 
• Floods - Floods can inundate land in a number of ways, but can bring many different problems to a business.
• Fires - Fires can result from various causes, damaging property, equipment, and inventory.

Cybersecurity Incidents

One of the biggest disasters a business can deal with comes from threats from the Internet. These include data breaches, ransomware attacks, and Distributed Denial of Service attacks, which can compromise sensitive information and disrupt online services. 

Other Issues You Need to Plan For

There are quite a few other issues that your business should consider when designing its business continuity plans. These include:

• Reputational damage
• Legal and regulatory issues
• Economic downturns
• Labor stoppages
• Extreme weather
• Utility failures
• Health issues
• Supply chain problems

…And more.

If you consider any situation that takes down your business’ ability to operate as normal a disaster, you will have a contingency for any situation that pops up. Having a disaster recovery plan is an essential part of keeping your head above water. For this, we can help. Our knowledgeable IT technicians have plenty of experience designing and implementing disaster recovery plans for DC Metro businesses, so we know what threats your business is under. To learn what we can do, give us a call today at 301-571-5040.