By August 26, 2012, Tropical Storm Isaac had already added to the woes of Haiti residents and wreaked havoc in the Florida Keys. By the time it reaches land on the evening of August 28, the storm is expected to accumulate wind speeds that would make it a category 1 hurricane. Already, cities and towns along the Gulf Coast of the United States are preparing for the worst. What about you? Do you have a disaster recovery plan in place should your business be damaged or destroyed by a level 1 hurricane or severe tropical storm?

One of the first steps toward having an effective disaster recovery plan is ensuring that all important and mission-critical company files and applications are backed up and easy to recover should the need arise. Small-business owners who lack IT professionals on staff can talk to a local managed IT services provider about how to create an effective backup and data recovery plan.

What type of technology does your business already have in place? If tropical storm waters flooded the road leading to your office and forced you and all of your employees to work remotely, could you do it? Would you and your employees have access to all of the files and applications you need to conduct your business and satisfy your customers’ needs? Would you all be able to communicate with each other?

Cloud solutions like virtualization and VoIP can help keep your business running smoothly even if a tropical storm or hurricane destroyed your entire office. But what do you do if you’re at work when disaster strikes? What plan do you have in place for that? Who would take over if you were injured? How would you and your team evacuate?

Once your disaster recovery plan has been established, it’s time to create a schedule for practice drills. Your IT team can do regular checks to ensure that your company data and applications are being backed up properly and are recoverable and usable should they be needed. But evacuation procedures and other steps that have to be taken to ensure business continuity must be practiced on regularly.

Although disaster comes in many different forms, natural disasters are often the most devastating, and they can strike anywhere at any time. Don’t get caught unprepared. Take the time to start creating a disaster recovery plan for your business today because once disaster strikes, it’ll be too late.

As your trusted IT advisor we are always here to help with any IT related disaster recovery and even help you prepare in the future. Call today.