Review Your Technical Resiliency & Disaster Recovery Strategy

If not properly upkept and maintained, your network infrastructure can become vulnerable to power outages, cyber-attacks, and disasters. It is important to not only have a backup, but also to review your resiliency and disaster recovery strategy on a regular basis. Threats change every day and your ability to keep up with those changing circumstances can determine how well your business fares through attacks and major events. A smart business continuity strategy can keep your business functioning with as little disruption to IT service as possible. Below, we’ll discuss the key elements of a strong resilient & recovery strategy.

Migrate to Hosted/Cloud Services

Cloud services are housed in environments with high levels of protection from threats, including redundant power, fire suppression, and cybersecurity. When we host your network, you can access it from anywhere so long as you have power and internet access. When you can’t work at your own facility for a myriad of circumstances, this is essential.

Add an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)

An UPS should be designed to support all necessary devices that you need for the length of time you may need to cope with an emergency. It should also be configured to shut down devices in an orderly fashion after a prescribed amount of “uptime.” Additionally, it is also important to test these systems and replace their batteries every 3 years.

Hook up an On-Premises Generator

Power outages can cause significant disruption and leave you with little time to secure a generator, so having one beforehand is a powerful advantage. Weigh your options carefully, as many of the commercially available generators aren’t right for a business environment. A dual fuel option that is properly sized to your electrical needs and permanently installed is a strong choice.

Install Resilient Internet Services

By having two ISPs, you can rely on the second when the first is down. You can install two circuits with an auto-failover or an SD WAN solution in order to provide highly resilient internet services. This will keep your organization running when an ISP is down both for a short time from a simple circuit cut or for a long time from a serious disaster.

Invest in Voice Communication

Those businesses which rely on phones can switch to VoIP for added security and flexibility. Using VoIP you can have your employees communicate by voice, text, and email. You’ll need a mobile device management plan to keep the phones under the control of your business and extra battery packs for urgent situations. For some businesses, satellite phones are a strong option as well.

Have a Plan

Depending on your business’s exposure to risk, you can develop anything from a small checklist to use in the event of a disruptive event or a full disaster recovery plan. The most important part is to review your plan regularly and conduct dry runs, which allows you to adjust to changing risks to improve the practicality and thoroughness of your plan.

To learn more about how to prepare for the unprecedented from IT experts, contact KLH Consulting at (800) 487-3363.