When a hurricane threatens, small and midsized business leaders are faced with one question above many, “Should our doors remain open or should we temporarily close?” The question is most easily answered by whether or not the business has prepared for an emergency in advance.
In fact, according to the Gulf Coast Back to Business Act (2007), Congress finds that 43 percent of businesses that close following a natural disaster never reopen, and an additional 29 percent of businesses close down permanently within two years (Library of Congress 2009).
Disasters can strike at any time. Fires, hurricanes, floods, acts of terrorism or utility outages could cause a business to relocate, cease operation temporarily or even close its doors indefinitely.
While many Gulf Coast businesses are still recovering from the affects of Hurricane Ike, some business leaders choose to believe that a disaster of these proportions won’t adversely their business.
While disasters like Hurricanes Ike, Rita and Katrina seem “extreme,” having an emergency preparedness plan is the only way companies can survive the fury of what may happens during the next four months.
“For any business interruption, every minute of downtime – planned or unplanned – costs a business more than the material damages incurred,” says Richard Thompson, Senior Systems Engineer at Xvand Technology. “It can also cost them the confidence of those who depend on that business. This includes customers, suppliers and other business partners.”
Before the 2011 Hurricane Season, business leaders are faced with a familiar question,
“Assume that our company is not at risk (poncho) or prepare to face these challenges before a disaster strikes (wetsuit)”:
Communications.
Poncho: Assume your corporate email and phone systems will stay up through the hurricane
Wetsuit: Compile, update and verify contact lists to communicate with contacts throughout the emergency – get personal email addresses, cell phone numbers, etc. Have each department head create a hard copy of the above to carry in purse or wallet for employees, clients, vendors and distribution channels.
What to do when a hurricane strikes.
Poncho: Assume your business can wing it – no departmental checklists or disaster response “cookbook”.
Wetsuit: Create a company hurricane manual or cookbook that includes employee safety & evacuation procedures and a predetermined location to which employees can evacuate. Management should distribute and review evacuation routes, and a plan for how to communicate once employees are temporarily relocated. Back-up power supply should be set in place for those employees who will “hunker down” at the office.
The manual should also designate individuals to take inventory of computers, equipment, supplies and receipts and verification of ownership. Individual employees should be encouraged to do the same for their personal belongings. Take “before” photographs for documented evidence for post-disaster dialogues with your insurance provider.
Access to company data.
Poncho: Assume your computer systems will be available as usual.
Wetsuit: Prepare a disaster recovery plan in advance, and test the following on a quarterly basis:
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Data access: Move your company data and applications to a centralized system that will allow browser access, so your employees can access their data from a secure, remote location.
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Data backup: Regularly test the integrity of your backups. According to the Boston Computing Network, 77% of companies that test their tape backups found backup failures. While it may seem obvious, make sure your data is backed up in an offsite storage facility that is not in the hurricane path.
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Data restoration: How do you (or your vendors) define “recovery” and how long is the recovery interval to restore data after the emergency passes? Where will restore occur? Are the backups up-to-date and good? Will the data be in sync? How long will it take? Make sure the equipment is compatible and that it will quickly enable you to continue business operations as usual.
When data is corrupted or not regularly updated, it may take several weeks trying to get it working again. If your building is destroyed it is likely the computers and servers inside may be destroyed as well. Make sure that new equipment can be procured immediately after the storm, and that it can properly handle the backed up data.
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Data security: Cyber thieves tend to strike during and directly following natural disasters, when companies are typically most vulnerable. Make sure your backup infrastructure is accessible to your employees, and no one else. If you utilize vendors, ask about their security procedures.
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Data accessibility before, during, after hurricane: Of course, you should test to make certain that your employees can access the data at the hot-site. Just having a backup of the data does you no good if it is inaccessible by those who need it to continue business operations.
Alternate workplace or environment for your employees
Poncho: Assume your building will be open, with power and air conditioning.
Wetsuit: Arrange work from home capabilities utilizing browser access for all data and applications.
