San Diego Earthquakes Shake Southern California This Past Weekend
Although they were relatively minor, the swarm of earthquakes that hit San Diego and the surrounding area on August 26, 2012 served as a not so gentle reminder that natural disasters are unpredictable. Business leaders with offices in Southern California and other areas that regularly fall victim to natural disasters need disaster recovery plans that are up to date and ready to implement in a moment’s notice.
The earthquakes that struck Southern California extended all the way to Arizona, according San Diego’s 10News.com, so even business leaders in areas that aren’t prone to any particular type of natural disaster have to be prepared.
One of the first steps toward having an effective disaster recovery plan is ensuring that all important and mission-critical company files and applications are backed up and easy to recover should the need arise. Small-business owners who lack IT professionals on staff can talk to a local managed IT services provider about how to create an effective backup and data recovery plan.
What type of technology does your business already have in place? If a minor earthquake damaged the road leading to your office and forced you and all of your employees to work remotely, could you do it? Would you and your employees have access to all of the files and applications you need to conduct your business and satisfy your customers’ needs? Would you all be able to communicate with each other?
Cloud solutions like virtualization and VoIP can help keep your business running smoothly even if an earthquake destroyed your entire office. But what do you do if you’re at work when disaster strikes? What plan do you have in place for that? Who would take over if you were injured? How would you and your team evacuate?
Once your disaster recovery plan has been established, it’s time to create a schedule for practice drills. Your IT team can do regular checks to ensure that your company data and applications are being backed up properly and are recoverable and usable should they be needed. But evacuation procedures and other steps that have to be taken to ensure business continuity must be practiced regularly.
Although disaster comes in many different forms, natural disasters are often the most devastating, and they can strike anywhere at any time. Don’t get caught unprepared. Take the time to start creating a disaster recovery plan for your business today because once disaster strikes, it’ll be too late.
Disaster can and will strike anytime and at any place. Do you have a business continuity or disaster recovery plan in place? Is your information securely stored offsite in the event of a disaster? Lots of questions, we have answers. Call us today.