Recent record rainfall in our area led to flash floods and record river levels, which damaged businesses, homes and agriculture. Add to that our 'normal' spring tornado season and here at DCR the topic of emergency preparedness and business continuity is at the forefront of our minds. While statistics vary between different agencies, generally speaking they are as follows:
43% of businesses without an emergency plan never reopen
50% of those experiencing a computer outage of more than 10 days, are out of business within 1 year
75% of companies without a business continuity plan, that experience a disaster, fail with 3 years
No one wants to be a statistic, so the question is how do you prepare for an emergency? There are many resources available to help you including those at the following links from the U.S. Small Business Administration and FEMA. https://www.sba.gov/content/disaster-planning & https://www.fema.gov/protecting-your-businesses
Following are three basic questions you need to consider:
1. For what level of emergency or disaster do I want to prepare?
Some examples to consider are: a short term power and/or utility outage lasting from a few hours to 1 day; or an extended power and/or utility outage lasting 1- 3 days; or a long term power and/or utility outage lasting in excess of four days and possibly coupled with damage to your facilities.
2. What are my priorities in each situation?
Typically, there are three areas most businesses consider priorities; payroll, continued revenue generation and communication (phones and/or email). These priorities differ from business to business and you may have other priorities in addition to these three.
3. What resources are needed to address my priorities?
What staff members, equipment or services are needed? How will you communicate? What vendors do you need to reach?
Having a written Business Continuity plan (also called a Disaster Recovery Plan or Emergency Plan) requires thought, planning, testing and time. It cannot be completed in one meeting and a good plan should include regular reviews and updates. Every business has some level of emergency preparedness that fits their budget and business goals.
DCR offers services to aid in establishing a plan as it pertains to computer hardware, software, network infrastructure, power and backups.
Contact us at 918-436-1830 for more information.
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