Is Your Business Ready for Disaster?

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It’s true that the Mayan apocalypse of December 21st, 2012 failed to materialize, but that doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down surrounding potential business disasters. Are you prepared to handle a natural disaster wiping out either your office building or the tech solutions (including those both remotely-based and cloud-based) that you rely on to conduct business? How would you handle the unexpected death of a key employee?

Really, none of these scenarios are particularly pleasant to imagine, but it’s important that companies take the time to think through these business continuity needs before the worst comes to pass. If you haven’t put a disaster preparedness plan into place yet, consider all of the following factors when addressing the needs of your company in an emergency:

Document storage and backups

When thinking through all the potential disasters that could befall your organization, it’s safest to assume that all of your physical documents could be wiped out (in, for example, a building fire, flood or earthquake) and that all of your digital documents could be lost as well, due to the failure of internal or external server systems.

As a result, you may want to look into any of the following solutions for ensuring that backups of all necessary files are created:

  • Implementing backup redundancy systems that store copies of your digital files in multiple locations.
  • Creating physical copies of your company’s most important documents that can be stored in several different locations (for example, on site, in a safety deposit box or in the owner’s home).
  • Investing in fire safe document storage containers for important files that can’t be duplicated, either for legal or practical reasons.

Employee knowledge management

At the same time, consider that the disaster that affects your organization in the future could come in the form of an employee death or departure – not just a physical emergency. Again, these aren’t pleasant things to think about, but they’re a vital part of helping your organization to survive unexpected disasters.

Any of the following strategies can help to ensure that vital employee knowledge isn’t lost to these tragic circumstances:

  • Cross-train employees in key departments so that no one person is irreplaceable. When proper backups are implemented, losing an employee unexpectedly is still upsetting – but it won’t be devastating to your business.
  • Document employee processes so that internal practices and policies aren’t stored solely within the minds of your employees. This can be done through the use of standard operating procedure (SOP) documents or an Enterprise Q&A system like Quandora that allows employees to add process information to a centralized location.

Physical structure contingency plans

One final element that your business continuity plan should address is how you’ll handle disasters that affect the integrity of your physical structures. If, for example, your office building is destroyed in a fire, where will your employees go until your facilities can be rebuilt? If you host manufacturing, packaging or shipping processes in your physical location, how will you handle the interruption to your business without going bankrupt?

Specifically, you’ll want to address the following concerns in your disaster recovery plan:

  • Identify backup locations that could serve as temporary office or production spaces until your own building is cleared for reentry.
  • Ensure that your business insurance covers losses sustained from these types of disasters. If you aren’t sure based on your policy documents, contact an agent for more thorough advice.
  • Consider implementing technology solutions that allow remote access – even if you don’t plan to allow “work from home” arrangements as a standard practice. Making sure that employees are familiar with these protocols will allow workers to get back to business from their homes in the event of a physical disaster within your company.

By taking the time to plan out how you’ll handle these contingencies in advance, you’ll be better prepared to tackle any disasters that may occur in the future. While it’s our hope that you never once have to put these preparations into practice, understanding your company’s unique continuity needs helps minimize the risk of serious financial misfortune befalling your business during its time of crisis.

Looking for a great way to ask questions and build knowledge with your co-workers? Quandora enables simple, efficient knowledge sharing with your team, way more fun than a mailing list or a forum. Try Quandora

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