Will we stay or evacuate when a hurricane threatens?
How do you communicate with clients, vendors and employees?
Will our disaster plan work when the going gets tough?
Cheryl Smith of the IsUtility® Helpdesk answers your hurricane preparedness questions and outlines keys steps to a successful Disaster Plan:
1. Risk Assessment & Management
a. Identify & categorize risk of disaster on business
i. Impact on revenue
ii. Impact on clients/reputation
b. IT systems assessment
i. How much data can the organization afford to risk?
ii. How long can the data be inaccessible?
1. Email
2. Core applications
3. Non-core applications
c. Related preparation costs
2. Data Backup and Accessibility (based on “Risk Assessment”)
a. Data backup
b. Applications backup
c. Data accessibility & ability to work from anywhere (during disaster period)
d. Back-up power supply
3. Restoring Data & Applications
a. Purchase replacement equipment (if necessary)
b. Restore applications
c. Restore data (Are the backups up-to-date and intact?)
d. Sync data and applications (ensure compatibility as previously)
e. Ensure accessibility and ability to work from anywhere
4. Test & Re-test Disaster Preparedness Plan
a. Test plan definition
b. Results and analysis
For more tips and best practices on preparing for Hurricane Season, contact our Houston Disaster Recovery Specialists.