When you think about business continuity planning, what comes to mind? Combating downtime? Disaster recovery? Data backup and recovery? While these are all important aspects of a comprehensive continuity plan, they’re not the whole story. In fact, there are many reasons why your New England business needs a BCP, reasons that go beyond simply recovering from a natural or man-made disaster.
Learn how partnering with a managed service provider like Attain Technology can help your business defy the odds and face the unknown with confidence.
What is a Business Continuity Plan?
Simply put, business continuity planning is the process of strategizing a system of prevention and recovery from potential threats. It encompasses everything from data backup and disaster recovery to employee training and security protocols. Establishing a BCP shows your cybersecurity insurance provider you’re serious about recovery and holds them accountable when it comes to payout details, assigning responsible parties for tasks (like scouting a new facility), and acquiring new hardware.
For businesses in the New England area, it’s especially important to have a BCP in place given the number of natural disasters that can occur—think hurricanes and winter storms.
Now that we understand what a Business Continuity Plan is, let’s take a look at five reasons why your organization needs one.
1. Disaster Recovery
A comprehensive BCP should also take into account things like power outages, internet disruptions, hardware or software failures, and even acts of terrorism. By thinking about all possible outcomes, your plan can become an ironclad resource for continuing business as usual even in the face of uncertain and stressful situations.
Setting up your company for success requires exhaustive planning and implementing the right disaster recovery solutions. The objective is to be able to recover fully and as quickly as possible. With today’s threats, that takes thorough planning. Begin by assessing the environment, conducting a SWOT analysis, and then formulating a plan.
This plan should be revisited annually, as the landscape changes and we need to adapt and adjust. Take into account potential threats to your business—not just disasters—so you can create a more robust plan to keep your business up and running no matter what comes your way.
2. Ransomware and Cyber Attacks
A major component of a strong BCP includes developing a strategy for dealing with a cyber event such as ransomware or a data breach. This will include details around how long operations can remain if systems are down. If your systems are down part of your BCP will determine how long it will take to have your information restored from a managed backup.
Your BCP will also establish whether your organization will need to pay the ransom. Having this part of your plan beforehand allows your business leaders to either pay the ransomware and get your information back as quickly as possible or choose not to pay the ransom and access your stored data to restore operations.
3. Data Shows Backups Are Not Enough
According to the National Archives & Records Administration, 93% of companies that lost their server in a disaster, filed for bankruptcy within one year. That’s a staggering statistic, and it underscores the importance of having a comprehensive continuity plan in place. Simply backing up your data is not enough—you need to have a plan for how you will recover that data in the event of a disaster.
4.Cyber Insurance Does Not Protect Your Data
Many businesses believe that their insurance will cover them in the event of a data breach or loss. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case. In fact, most insurance policies exclude coverage for lost or stolen data. To make sure your business is protected, you need a business continuity plan that includes data backup and recovery.
5. Competitive Edge
In today’s competitive business landscape, having a business continuity plan gives you a significant advantage over your competition. Why? Because customers want to know that their data is safe and that they can continue doing business with you no matter what happens.
By having a comprehensive BCP in place, you’re sending a strong message to your customers that you’re committed to protecting their information—and that’s something they’ll appreciate!
6. Reduce Downtime
No matter what happens, whether it’s a natural disaster, a pandemic, hardware failure, ransomware, or simply a power outage, your business must go on. Continuity planning ensures that your business has a future, in spite of all the obstacles and challenges.
Keep Your Business Running With Attain Technology
At Attain Technology, we understand the importance of effective, updated business continuity planning. That’s why we offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to help you create and implement a plan that fits your unique needs. From data backup and recovery to cyber solutions and employee training, we have you covered.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you keep your New England business up and running no matter what!
