7 Additional Key Concepts – Natural Disaster Business Survival Series

We can’t control when, how, where or even to what degree a natural disaster or human error may impact a business or facility. We can, however, be prepared to quickly pick up the pieces and get back to work in an expedited, safe manner. Below are a few more quick tips to round out our extended Natural Disaster Business Survival Guide series.

Get Employees Involved

Business Continuity plans only work if everyone understands them. Employees are also a great source of ideas and insights about how your business might be affected by a disaster. So business must communicate BC plans to employees regularly – and actively solicit their input.

Keep Customers In The Loop

Customers are the lifeblood of every business. They should be treated as such even during a disaster. Alerts on the company website, email broadcasts, social media and text messages to key contacts’ mobile phones are all good ways for a business to express concern about the impact of a disaster on its customers. That level of service can even help transform a disaster into an opportunity for greater long-term customer loyalty.

Collaborate With Suppliers

Businesses increasingly work in tightly interdependent networks of suppliers and partners. By working collaboratively with these third parties, businesses can make themselves even more resilient and well-protected against disasters large and small.

Periodically test and update BC plans

It’s not enough to formulate a plan once and put it on paper. Assumptions about a plan should be validated with real-life testing. Plans also have to be updated continuously to ensure that they accommodate changes in the business’s products, services, relationships, size, geographic reach, etc.

Factor In Compliance

Businesses are subject to a variety of regulatory mandates that may require certain disaster preparedness measures. OSHA may be particularly relevant in regards to workplace safety.

Examine Insurance Options Carefully

Coverage varies greatly, and policy language can be confusing. Businesses have to exercise careful legal and financial diligence to ensure that their policies cover all aspects of disaster recovery and revenue loss, not just the repair of initial damage. In some cases, it may make sense to obtain contingent business interruption insurance. This type of policy provides additional coverage for the harm a disaster can do to a business indirectly, for example, if a supplier in a different climate fails to deliver promised goods because of a local blizzard.

Data Backup Is Not Enough

Many businesses think they’re safe just because they’ve backed up their critical files. The problem is that those files depend on applications and systems to be of any use to the business. That’s why, in the event of a disaster, it’s essential to be able to run applications on-demand form virtual machines backed up in the cloud.

For all of your Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery system needs, give us a call today.

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