{"id":14562,"date":"2019-05-16T09:17:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T13:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/avtech.com\/articles\/?p=14562"},"modified":"2019-05-16T09:17:37","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T13:17:37","slug":"business-continuity-critical-no-matter-size-of-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avtech.com\/articles\/14562\/business-continuity-critical-no-matter-size-of-organization\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Continuity Is Critical No Matter The Size Of Your Organization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Business continuity is critical for organizations of all\ntypes and sizes. Not being able to open your doors to customers because of\ndowntime will undoubtedly lead to lost revenue, and raising the possibility of\ngoing out of business entirely depending on how long you need to remain closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter the size of your organization, having defined\nprocesses in place to help reduce the chance of downtime as well as reduce time\nspent closed during catastrophic events is critical when it comes to protecting\nyour organization and assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too many organizations ignore business continuity under the\nmistaken impression that they\u2019re not \u201cbig enough\u201d to warrant equipment,\nsoftware, and processes that can help keep you up and running instead of\nclosing your doors should something happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether your company employs 5 or 5000 people, business\ncontinuity should be something you document and periodically review to ensure\nyou\u2019re staying as protected as possible against downtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenue loss hurts,\nno matter how big you are<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The most important aspect of your business continuity plan\nis its ability to keep your organization\u2019s doors open for as long as possible\nwhen you\u2019re faced with a situation that might cause closure otherwise. Some\nclosure situations are temporary and unavoidable, such as blizzards or\nhurricanes that force your employees to stay home due to travel bans. In those\ninstances, having remote access and unified communications can help you keep\nmaking sales and earning revenue even if the doors to your brick and mortar are\nclosed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business continuity really comes into play during those\nsituations where downtime and loss could be avoided by having advanced\nnotification of a problem or having documented processes that allow you to\naddress issues as soon as they start, helping to reduce the affects of those\nincidents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller organizations can acutely feel the loss of revenue\neven if you\u2019re forced to close for a short period of time. Smaller payrolls can\nbe impacted almost immediately if your customers can\u2019t buy goods or services\nfrom you. A broken website, a warehouse or storage room that\u2019s got a foot of\nwater in it, or an unprotected network that has your customer data compromised\nor stolen could all be catastrophic for your organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larger organizations may feel like they have a buffer when\nit comes to losses incurred due to downtime, but the reality is that the lack\nof a defined business continuity plan or preventative measures at the very\nleast will have a large impact as well. Customer and employee confidence take a\nbig hit when your organization has downtime, especially if it\u2019s publicly noted.\nLosing immediate sales and long-term relationships hurt far more than damages\nthat insurance may eventually partially cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the steps to\nensure you stay open, regardless of the circumstances<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every organization should invest the time to make sure their\nbusiness continuity plan is put into place and documented to help drastically\nreduce the risk of downtime and revenue loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steps you should consider include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data security<\/strong> \u2013\nProtect your network with a firewall, ensure local anti-virus definitions are\nup to date, and train employees on proper data protection policies (no opening\nunknown attachments, no external USB drives, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data backup<\/strong> \u2013\nEnsure your data is being backed up in multiple ways to protect against hard\ndrive failure and data loss. Cloud-based options as well as external drives are\nboth options, and it\u2019s critical to periodically check that those backups have\nbeen working as scheduled to avoid surprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employee continuity<\/strong>\n\u2013 Revisit your staffing to identify key employees who may be the only ones who\nknow how to perform certain tasks within your business; make sure you either\ndocument their duties or cross-train others who can step in if those key\nemployees are out of work for any period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facility protection<\/strong>\n\u2013 Check smoke detectors and fire alarms to make sure they are in prime working\ncondition. Install monitors and sensors to protect against unexpected water\ndamage from storms, leaking roofs, broken HVAC, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offsite contingency\nplan<\/strong> \u2013 In the event your facility isn\u2019t accessible, have a documented plan\nin place that allows your staff to complete as much work as possible remotely\nso \u201cnormal\u201d business can resume as easily as possible once they\u2019re able to\nreturn to the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning for the unplanned is the crux of your business\ncontinuity plan. You never know when a sudden storm, construction accident,\nleaking pipe, or power loss will hit your organization. Make sure your business\ncontinuity plan is in place to address as many issues a possible so when the\nunexpected does <\/em>happen, you\u2019re\nprepared for it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business continuity is critical for organizations of all types and sizes. Not being able to open your doors to customers because of downtime will undoubtedly lead to lost revenue, and raising the possibility of going out of business entirely depending on how long you need to remain closed. No matter the size of your organization, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[20],"tags":[47,50,130,139,167],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n