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by Mark Stryker
Principal and Chief Operating Officer
Extreme Technologies, Inc.
For those operating businesses here in “Hurricane Alley,” the prospect of another storm taking aim at the local area can result in extreme stress and worry. The “normal” fears and concerns surrounding storm preparation are compounded by fears for co-workers and thoughts of lost profits, lost productivity and missed opportunity.
So, if hearing the excited voice of a local weather reporter spurs images of reaching for the aspirin and kissing sleep goodbye, there are many opportunities available to reduce the chance of sustaining an extended business shutdown event from a serious storm. Here are ten tips for adding some technology and process armor to the business, and some peace of mind to each day.
- Get Introduced to the Lingo – “CIP” and “BCP.” Technologists love acronyms! The acronym “CIP” stands for Critical Infrastructure Protection and encompasses the national and international policies, regulation and statutes focused on protecting vital, national assets, services and commercial and governmental operations. “BCP,” or Business Continuity Planning, is focused on commercial risk management and mitigation – think storms, outages, fires, and the like. Just knowing the vocabulary opens the door to wide array of potentially helpful information and resources.
- Develop an Investment Mindset. The first step in preparing the business to spring back from a commercial disruption is being ready to truly make the investment in a plan – both budget AND time. When considering the investment budget, it is helpful to think of it in these terms - How much does it really cost for the business to be shut down for a day, an hour, a week (Heaven forbid!). Remember to include the soft costs like missed opportunity, winding the business down before and starting back up after an event. The results of good planning can be more powerful, and make far more economic sense than any insurance policy.
- Know What, and Who, is Critical. The main goal of the planning cycle is to protect and insulate the commercial engine of your company from disruptive events. This means stripping out all of the bells and whistles and precisely identifying the people, processes, systems and services that generate your revenue. Think of this from the perspective of how the business actually makes money: From the personnel, raw materials and assets contributing directly to revenue activities, to the external parties, like suppliers or distributors, must be involved to execute a transaction.
- Know Your Data – Love Your Data. There is simply no way around it in the modern economy – data is the business. Three core operations must be considered here: identify critical data (this is often the hardest part), consolidate the data, and protect the data. The good news is that there are a wide variety of affordable tools and aids available for the consolidation and protection phases.
- Eliminate Single Points of Failure. Take the list of critical items from #3 and identify the ones whose individual breakdown or absence would bring revenue generation to a grinding halt. As with #3, think people, processes, systems and services. With people and processes, the straight-line solution is cross-training in the critical disciplines and operations. System and service risk can be mitigated by supplementing and replicating existing capabilities. For example, having a plan for a single spare physical or virtual server, installing smart Uninterruptible Power Sources, and adding a backup Internet connection from a different provider are extremely low-cost, high-value solution points that are easily manageable.
- Backup to Get Back Up. Once the data that is essential to operating your business is identified, the next critical step is to back that data up – often! Having a regimented, formal backup policy is one of the lynchpin opportunities in protecting the business. Go beyond simply capturing the data, and plan how and where to securely store and access this vital information. Look for ways to rotate and store the information offsite. For a minimal starting point, bank safety deposit boxes, weather and fireproof home safes or any institutional lockbox are all great options.
- Test Your Shutdown and Resumption Plan. An untested plan is an unnecessary roll of the dice! Pick one weekend every quarter to perform a soft shutdown and restore of the IT infrastructure and simulate critical failovers, like Internet and power; it can be as simple as unplugging a cable. Put any issues that surface at the top of the IT work plan to be addressed immediately.
- Communication is Key! When a disruption event does occur, having a plan for disseminating information to the business team, knowing Who-will-do-What-by-When, is key to resuming business as quickly as possible. Leveraging existing technology- the company website, online user groups, text messaging and personal voicemail can all accelerate the return to business. Tying available communication channels to a Communication Succession Plan can ensure the most rapid and effective contact with the business team.
- Review and Update the Plan Every Six Months (at least!). As the business works every day to achieve commercial goals the IT infrastructure can change quickly and dramatically. Consistently reevaluating all of the critical components of the revenue engine make the difference between thinking the business is ready and knowing that the company and the people are as prepared as possible.
- Know When to Get Help! Simply put – make the wisest investment possible for the company. CIP and BCP each have strategic implications, and the core decisions and awareness are critical to the C-level stakeholders of the business. Minimizing the cost of stakeholder time and attention diverted from revenue generation and business achievement can make a prudent investment a homerun. This is when finding the right partner can pay amazing dividends. Being able to plug in a Subject Matter Expert, with a history of lessons and experience in the execution of a continuity plan, and the insight to tailor the solutions to your specific business needs can make a large, positive difference – fast!
With the right mindset and governance any business can turn IT into a formidable tool for enhancing and protecting the productivity and profitability of the enterprise. The process of planning for and insulating the business from large, systemic risks can immediately reduce or eliminate the profit risks presented by everyday events like losing an Internet line, or a server, or even the exit of a key employee.
For small and mid-sized clients, the BCP process yields its own, immediate rewards. Changing the way key stakeholders understand, plan for, and measure the returns from the entire investment in business infrastructure.
The storms that affect businesses can take many forms beyond a single weather event. The true opportunity is to start now, before the next storm comes. |
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