September is National Preparedness Month—a timely reminder for businesses to review their disaster recovery and business continuity plans. This year, the urgency is even more apparent following the Texas floods or the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene last year. As the strongest hurricane to hit Florida’s Big Bend region, Helene left communities devastated, highlighting the critical importance of being prepared for both natural and man-made disasters.
Why Disaster Recovery Matters
Disaster recovery isn’t just a precaution; it’s a necessity. Whether it’s a hurricane, flood, wildfire, or cyberattack, unexpected events can severely disrupt operations and lead to major financial losses. A well-planned disaster recovery strategy enables your organization to restore IT infrastructure, maintain communication, and minimize downtime when a crisis strikes.
The rise in disasters and emergencies serves as a wake-up call. Many businesses affected by these unplanned, unexpected events often experience prolonged outages due to physical damage at their primary sites. This underscores the importance of business continuity plans and resilient systems, including cloud-based backups and off-site data storage, which allow for faster recovery with minimal disruption.
National Preparedness Month Ideas: Build a Strong Business Continuity Plan
In recognition of National Preparedness Month, now is the perfect time to evaluate your organization’s disaster readiness. Use these seven key steps from AISN’s Disaster Recovery Checklist to strengthen your business continuity plan:
1. Identify Potential Risks
Assess all threats (e.g., natural disasters like hurricanes and floods, as well as cyberattacks or power outages) that could impact your operations.
2. Inventory Critical IT Assets
Create a detailed inventory of servers, data, applications, and equipment. Know what needs to be protected and where vulnerabilities exist.
3. Set Recovery Objectives
Set recovery objectives for natural disasters, defining how quickly your business must recover if an event impacts your primary location.
4. Develop a Plan
Include procedures for data backup, communication, and remote work. Use cloud-based recovery solutions to maintain business continuity if physical locations become inaccessible.
5. Embrace Cloud Solutions
Cloud platforms offer scalable, secure, and cost-effective ways to back up and recover data. They reduce dependency on on-premises infrastructure, which is often vulnerable during natural disasters.
6. Get Executive Buy-In
Use real-world examples to emphasize the importance of preparedness and secure executive support for disaster recovery initiatives.
7. Test and Update Regularly
A plan that hasn’t been tested is as good as no plan at all. Run regular simulations to ensure all team members know their roles during an emergency or cyber threat.
The Cost of Inaction
Every year, businesses lose billions due to unplanned downtime and data loss. National Preparedness Month is your opportunity to take proactive steps before disaster strikes. Whether facing the aftermath of a hurricane or a ransomware attack, the businesses that recover fastest are the ones that planned ahead.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Prepare your business today. Contact AISN to schedule a consultation with one of our security experts and make sure your continuity plan is ready for anything.