SMB Alert: You Need an IT Business Continuity Plan Now

You’ve heard the expression, “It’s all in the planning.” To ensure that your small to midsized business is prepared to continue operating in the face of disaster, you’ve got to have an IT business continuity plan. Whether you encounter a pandemic, hurricane or cyberattack, a well-designed, comprehensive IT business continuity strategy is essential for maintaining a thriving business in the face of adversity. Unfortunately, many small to midsized business owners don’t realize the importance of having plans in place for preserving business continuity or disaster recovery after an event.

What is a Business Continuity Strategy?

A Business Continuity Strategy (BCS) is a plan by which companies can keep their businesses operating in the face of a crisis and be prepared to recover to full operations as quickly as possible as the crisis subsides. The plan must have elements in place before, during and after a crisis. There are several key considerations addressed in a strong BCS:

• Communications Contingencies – If your network has been compromised or your regular lines of communication are down, your company should:
  • Have set guidelines for what events will trigger a BCS response.
  • Designate someone to be the point person for relaying information and a conduit for rolling out your BCS.
  • Use social media on a secure WiFi connection as an external means of communication. For example, a private group on an SNS platform accessible only by employees is an excellent way to keep your team on the same page.
• Workforce Expectations – In the event of a crisis, your employees need to know:
  • exactly what to do and what not to do
  • your company’s contact person and the communications chain of command

Business Continuity Plans should be reviewed and updated, and all staffers need to be kept informed and up to date with any changes to the BCS.

• IT Disaster Recovery – The back end of your BCS must include disaster recovery. The IT disaster recovery plan includes:
  • The backups for all of your systems, including IT contingencies for your most critical business functions and apps.
  • Methodologies for restoring all your business IT systems and regular operations as quickly as possible after an event.

The overall goal is to mitigate losses, minimize downtime and get back to business. To achieve that goal, you must be prepared for a strong incident response.

Your BCS strategy must work in tandem with disaster recovery. If a cyberattack has hit you, you must also be ready to address any fallout with customers or suppliers. Who will notify them of the attack? How will confidence in your business be maintained or restored? Even if you are up and running after an attack, public relations considerations and reaffirming consumer confidence must also be an integral part of your BCS.

A Case Study With A Happy Ending

The CEO of a small medical device company in Connecticut believed that companies should be prepared with contingency plans for unexpected events. She pushed her teams to meet and create contingency plans for their departments and lead the management level project to create one unified BCS. Once the BCS was designed, the CEO spearheaded cross-company training and ran test runs for the plan during which hypothetical crisis scenarios were presented. Part of the company’s BCS included detailed plans for the swift transition to a company-wide, remote-access workforce in the event of a crisis. Over time, adjustments were made to the BCS, and more “what if” crisis scenarios were added to increase the versatility of the plan.

When the pandemic hit and the business world was scrambling for quick fixes to stay operational, the medical device company was prepared to hit the ground running. In one business day, 85% of its employees had transitioned to working remotely. Within 48 hours, the company was fully functional, and its remote work environment was secure.

Many small to midsized businesses have neither the time nor the budget for a full-time IT department. Yet preparation of a thorough Business Continuity Strategy with a supporting Disaster Recovery strategy is essential. IT professionals should be enlisted to help design the best possible BCS for your company. To further support your plan, IT experts will help train your team to be ready to act if you ever need to launch your BCS.

DIGIGUARD Cyber Security Knows the Importance of a BCS

DIGIGUARD, specializing in preventing cyber threats, has a wide array of solutions to protect against cybercrimes and ensure you have the best possible IT business continuity plan. It works with small and midsized businesses to establish cyber security best practices to ensure their confidential data has the best protection possible, and they are prepared for any business continuity issues or disaster recovery events that might arise. For any business, cyberattacks can have devastating consequences. DIGIGUARD can assess your cyber risks and work with you to ensure you have the best protection solution for your business.

Call DIGIGUARD CYBER SECURITY at 833-33-CYBER (833-332-9237) and visit www.DIGIGUARDsecurity.com to discuss how you can increase your level of cyber security and be prepared to maintain business continuity when an unexpected event arises.