Not all disasters can be avoided. A tornado, fire, theft or a server crash can all spell disaster for a business if you aren’t prepared. Of the businesses that experience either a manmade or natural disaster, 40 percent do not reopen and 1/3 of the ones that do close within two years. Proper disaster planning can have you back in business with acceptable minimal amount of downtime and a better chance that your business will continue despite what has happened. 

One of the most likely disaster scenarios for a business is a server failure. Even if you have regular back-ups, it is not a foolproof system. Tapes have a high failure rate (disks are recommended now) and you will still need a replacement server or parts. Being down for even one day can mean a disruption in business as usual and a substantial financial loss. 

To establish a plan to mitigate your losses in any disaster:
• Identify all hardware, software, and data that will need to be recovered. 

• Perform an operational analysis to determine how long you can be down in each area, looking at each application and software, and still be able to fully recover from the loss. For example, a CRM is most likely used daily. You may determine that three hours of downtime is your limit, whereas another application may only be needed once a week to run reports. 

• Document all of your systems and applications. Include steps for reinstalling software. Document software codes and prioritize the data and systems you will recover first.  

• Determine the source you will use to replace your equipment. There are vendors that you can contract with who can ship you equipment in 24 to 48 hours. View it as an insurance policy, not always needed but essential in a disaster.  

• Have an updated organizational chart with duties clearly spelled out for each employee along with all contact information. Structure a plan that gives everyone a responsibility and lets them know how their job will continue in the interim. 

• Test your plan. Issues will arise that you may have never thought of unless the plan is put into practice. Revise the plan as necessary.

• Have multiple copies of the plan off site! 

The time to figure out how to keep your business running is before disaster strikes, not after. Determine how long you can be down without substantial loss, and work backwards to come up with a disaster planning timeline that works. Be sure to keep your plan updated, including equipment lists, applications, software and employees. You may not be able to stop a disaster from happening, but you can certainly mitigate the damage done to your business with the proper plan in place.