If there is anything that COVID-19 has taught us, it was that disasters can strike at any moment. They don’t have to be physical disasters, like tornadoes or terrorist attacks. It can be things you can’t even see, like pandemic diseases or cybersecurity attacks.
Either way, the result is the same—your business and its data are at risk of loss or being compromised. To protect yourself and your business, you need solid business continuity services.
When you work with a Managed Service Provider (MSP), like InnoTek, we can help you develop a clear Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that reduces your stress about potential data loss and backs up your data securely.
But what exactly is a BCP—and why do you need one? Let’s explore those answers and some other frequently asked questions about business continuity.
1. What is a Business Continuity Plan?
A BCP is a document with data recovery tactics and steps that allows you and your team to get back to business after disaster strikes. When you work with an MSP like InnoTek for Business Continuity Services (BCS), we’ll help develop your BCP documentation and provide robust data backups to protect you and your business.
2. Why Do I Need Business Continuity Services?
BCS ensures that your business can stay operational, no matter what type of threat occurs. You no longer lose sleep over whether a catastrophic event will cause you to lose valuable business data and take down your operations.
You can focus on running and growing your business while InnoTek protects your data from physical events like fire or flood. But even things like cybersecurity breaches and human error present risks for your data. BCS ensures your data is safe and prevents long periods of business disruption.
3. What Should I Include in My BCP?
There are several pieces of information and steps to include in your BCP. Talk to us at InnoTek to see how we can help you develop this plan. At a minimum, your plan should include:
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) – The point in the future when you plan to be recovered and how long it should take an IT system to return to normal operations.
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO) – The point in the past where you will recover to, which is typically the last data backup before the disruption.
- Employee roles and responsibilities – Establish a chain of command in case of an emergency. Also, plan for alternates in case one of the employees is affected by the disaster. Your BCP should also include a training plan for these roles.
- Clear instructions on how to deploy backups – Your MSP should be able to walk you through how to retrieve your system backups and data as soon as possible.
- Backup arrangements – If the disaster affects an asset of your business, like power, communications, or your site of operations, your BCP should define the backup arrangements for those resources.
4. What Types of Threats Should My BCP Cover?
Business continuity services are part of your whole risk management strategy. Therefore, a strong BCP should make recovery strategies for the following types of threats:
- Natural disasters
- Pandemics
- Cyberterrorism attacks
- Terrorist attacks
- Power outages
5. Where Should I Back Up My Data?
One of the biggest mistakes many business operations make is only backing up their data on removable media in their server room. What happens if your site is physically affected by a threat like fire or flood? You need to back up your data offsite at a data center or in the cloud in case of physical destruction.
Digital backups through the cloud or the internet are a great option. It’s not a bad idea to also back up your data on removable media stored in your facility (other than your server room) but be sure that key personnel knows where those backups are located.
6. Why Do I Need to Test My Data Backups?
Regular testing of your data backups is an essential function of a good business continuity service. Often, businesses don’t test their backups, so they don’t know when they become corrupt or broken. This lack of testing leaves them vulnerable to many risks since you can’t access your most recent data if it becomes corrupt. Regular testing prevents issues before it’s too late.
7. Who Should I Contact in Case of a Disaster?
When disaster hits your business, scrambling for phone numbers to contact important people can waste valuable time. Instead, your BCP should include the phone numbers with alternates for the following:
- CEO
- CFO
- Legal advisor
- Regional manager
- Manager
- Police
- Fire department
- Security services
- MSP
- Utility companies
8. Who Can Help Me with Business Continuity Programs?
When you are ready to get serious about your disaster recovery plans, an experienced and knowledgeable partner can help guide you through the process and steps. It often requires gathering information about your network, IT infrastructure, and business structure, which can be complicated and require technical knowledge. Work with an MSP who understands the long-term benefits of business continuity strategy and can help you with a full range of services.
Ready to Create Your BCP? Talk to Us at InnoTek!
Luckily, a reliable business continuity service provider is ready to step in and help you prepare in Bloomsburg and Hazelton areas in Pennsylvania—with more locations coming soon. InnoTek is a leader in business recovery and can help your business plan for continued operations after a disruption occurs. We’ll help you develop a clear and concise business continuity plan that reduces your stress of losing essential business data while providing automated data backups.
Talk to us today to see how we can help your business with continuity management services!
