* How you could help small businesses get back on their feet
The massive disaster spawned by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call for all businesses to develop and practice a disaster recovery plan. Even if your business isn’t vulnerable to hurricane-force winds or floods, there is always the possibility of a fire or some other situation that might destroy or render unavailable your business facilities and/or records. (Do you remember when whole buildings were quarantined in 2002 due to anthrax contamination? Who could have predicted that?)
After Katrina, I’m not very worried about large or even midsize business being able to recover their critical computer systems. New Orleans-based companies like Entergy and Hibernia had disaster recovery plans in place and executed them to ensure that their business could continue with minimal impact.
My major concern is for the thousands of small companies in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and even Florida that may not have devoted the time and resources to plan for what would happen if their critical business records – computerized or paper-based – were destroyed or otherwise unavailable. Many of those small companies could end up out of business forever if they can’t piece together enough of their financial records, customer information or intellectual property to conduct business.
Consider the hypothetical case of a small doctor’s office that might have only a few employees. Chances are the office would have at least one computer to schedule patient appointments, run an accounting application, conduct communications with patients’ insurance programs, and maybe even hold electronic records of patient care. If this computer was submerged in flood waters or thrown hundreds of yards by powerful winds, there might be no recovery of any of those records.
A little bit of planning prior to a disaster can mitigate the risk of losing everything. Disaster recovery planning for small businesses doesn’t have to be expensive or so technical that special resources are needed. All it takes is a level head to think about how computers are used in the business, and a plan to duplicate data or processes in a safe harbor.
Of course, the readers of this newsletter are all IT professionals who think it’s obvious that a business owner should protect his digital assets and be able to rapidly recover or replace his computer systems. I’m preaching to the choir when I say businesses need to get ready for the unexpected – YOU know this. So just this once, let’s say this newsletter article isn’t for you. Rather, it’s for every little business you come in contact with on a regular basis. Do your friends and neighbors a favor and encourage them to develop a continuity plan for their small business. It’s not that hard and can mean the difference between survival and a “Going Out of Business” sign.
Let’s consider that hypothetical doctor’s office again. We’ll assume for simplicity sake that one computer is used in the office. It could be two, or three, or four – the planning is basically the same. The most important thing is to maintain fairly current copies of the data on the computer. The hardware is expendable and replaceable; the data is not.
An office manager could make a weekly backup on CD-ROM and place that CD in a safe place offsite from the office – perhaps even in a safe deposit box in a bank. If the data contains patient records, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act dictates that the information must be kept private, so security is a consideration here.
An alternative or complement to making a backup is to store or copy the data automatically to an offsite protected facility. For example, my company uses the dlxEasyBackup service provided by Device Logix. This service allows us to store or copy files to a secure site via the Internet with very little intervention on our part. I tend to keep data in multiple places for an extra safety measure. Even an old, slightly out-of-date copy of a business record is better than nothing.
Being able to recover data is just one thing to plan. Other considerations include facilities, buildings and equipment, operations, communications and insurance.good tips for, well, small businesses to help them develop a disaster recovery plan. The Web site contains thought-provoking questions aimed at getting the small business owner to think about the unthinkable: “What if my payroll, tax, accounting, or production records were destroyed? Can I pay creditors, employees, and my own needs during a prolonged shutdown?”
The U.S. Small Business Administration has some
Since Katrina has struck, everyone in America is wondering what we can do to help those affected by the disaster. Maybe you can’t piece together the disrupted lives and businesses on the Gulf Coast, but you can use your IT knowledge to advise small businesses in your area on how they can prepare for a disaster.
Linda Musthaler is vice president of Currid & Company. You can write to her at mailto:Linda.Musthaler@currid.com
