Count to 14. That’s how long it’s taken for the next organization to fall victim to a ransomware attack. In 2020, operating within a society more reliant on technology than ever before, it’s not a matter of if, but when our systems and technologies fail.
By now, most businesses have some of their most valuable data backed up, whether it be on a hard drive or somewhere up there in the cloud. In the event of system failure, sure that data is “safe” until you’re back up and running – but just how long would that take in the event of a hack, disaster (naturally occurring or human-made), or catastrophic event?
The fact of the matter is that your hard drive serves you no good if your business is down for days or, in some instances, weeks. Some companies, especially those processing thousands of transactions, can’t even afford to shut down for even a few hours.
That’s where a sound business continuity plan comes into play.
What is IT Business Continuity Planning?
Business continuity means having the ability to immediately resume business operations following a significant or even catastrophic technological disruption.
A sound business continuity plan is developed to ensure your critical IT services are uninterrupted and to identify system vulnerabilities. Once analyzed, a business continuity plan is created to safeguard your data, systems, communications, and operations are backed up, and an emergency plan ready to implement within a moment’s notice.
As one of the tri-state area’s leading IT support firms, Shock IT Support is here to help your business develop the right plan and offer ease of mind as we protect your assets.
Why Does My Company Need A Business Continuity Plan
There are plenty of reasons why businesses continuity makes sense from the IT perspective – ensuring that your data and systems are safe and will be back up and running in the blink of an eye – but more importantly, you can ensure the protection of your clients, company reputation, and have peace of mind knowing your covered at all times from all angles. Here are a few reasons why you need a sound business continuity plan in place:
- Mitigate risks of natural or human-made disasters
- Internal or External System Sabotage
- Blackouts or Power Outages
- Failure of Communication Systems
- Network Breaches & Security Issues
- Cyber attacks / Hacking / DDoS
Where Do I Begin With Business Continuity?
Building a business continuity plan for your company begins with the assessment of your systems and applications. From there, a customized recovery plan is designed and implemented, followed by testing and maintenance to ensure preparedness at all times. Let’s take a look at each of the main elements of a business continuity plan.
Business Impact Analysis: Critical Activities vs. Non Critical Activities
Before developing and implementing a business continuity plan for your IT systems, the first step is identifying your business’s most critical services or products from the IT side of things with a business impact analysis (BIA). During BIA, your systems will be ranked based on criticality and vulnerability. BIA’s ultimate goal is to determine the costs associated with a sudden halt to functionality and determine and rank which processes are the most important to the business as a whole.
Recovery Strategy
Most individuals confuse business continuity with disaster I.T. recovery. Though closely related, disaster recovery services are primarily concerned with replacing the physical IT infrastructure following a catastrophic event while a business continuity plan covers the organization in its entirety. A recovery strategy, in terms of your business continuity plan will determine which systems and applications are most critical to get back up and running to ensure the survival of your business.
Continuity Plan Design & Implementation
For your business continuity plan to be effective in the event of an emergency, you’ll need to establish a game plan for before, during, and after system failures. The whole purpose of a BCP is to ensure the survival of your business. By taking proactive steps to mitigate instances such cyberattacks via ransomware detection, establishing advanced backup verification, and protecting your clients’ data that can be accessed immediately through instant virtualization; You’ll know that even given even the most severe of circumstances that your business can resume its activities in an instant.
Testing and Maintenance
Once your business continuity plan has been established and implemented across the board, you’ll need to routinely test your business continuity safeguards and procedures to make sure your company is fully prepared at any given time.
Build A Better Business Continuity Plan with Shock I.T. Support
It’s not a matter of if but when your technologies, systems, and applications will fail. With a sound business continuity plan, your company can rest assured that its data and IT infrastructure are secure from an IT perspective.
In the event of an emergency, your business can get right back up and running without a hitch. If your systems go down, you’re not only risking your data but more importantly, you’re losing out on revenue due to downtime. Shock IT Support is leading the charge to keep your business connected and protected at all times.
Contact Shock I.T. Support’s experts today for a complimentary Network Audit & IT security assessment.