infrastructure

Disasters come in many forms. But from a business perspective, it doesn’t matter if a flooded office is caused by faulty plumbing or a city-wide rain-pocalypse; the effects are the same, and they can be devastating. Natural disasters and extreme weather conditions cost American businesses billions of dollars every year.

According to FEMA, natural disasters result in the failure of 65% of affected businesses within one year of a disaster, and the lion’s share of these failures can be attributed to extended downtime. That is why having an effective and comprehensive business continuity plan in place is vital. By working with service providers and keeping a few key ideas firmly in mind, it’s possible for any business, including a small to medium sized business (SMB), to stay up and running.

Identify Mission Critical Elements

Certain elements of any business are vital to its operation. The first step in developing a business continuity plan is to identify which parts of the business are absolutely necessary for operation and which are not.

Evaluate the Risks

Businesses in different geographical locations face different potential disasters. Once armed with a comprehensive list of business critical elements, identify what types of natural disasters are most likely to affect those processes and how.

Develop a Strategy

Work through each disaster and develop a strategy to mitigate the effects of that disaster on critical aspects of the business. Common strategies include offsite data backup and secondary plans for internal communications should the regular network become unusable.

Physical Response Plan

Part of a comprehensive business continuity plan should involve what to do physically in case of a disaster. Consider the following:

Which emergency services should be contacted by whom in what circumstances?
Which exits should staff use under what conditions?
What materials and hardware should be rescued and/or salvaged first?

Answering these questions before they arise and practicing the steps involved can make recovering from a disaster much easier than it might otherwise be.

Recovery

Once the immediate danger has passed, it’s time to start assessing the damage and its effects on the business. How much downtime ensued, and how much did it cost the business? How much damage was inflicted upon facilities and infrastructure, and what is necessary to repair it?

The goal is to return to “business as usual” as quickly and efficiently as possible. Provided there was a solid business continuity plan in place before disaster struck, that should be quite feasible. Statistics show the devastating effects natural disasters can have on SMBs. A business continuity plan can prevent a business from becoming just another statistic.

Moving to the cloud is a logical decision for many companies, but the process of getting from point A to point B with a cloud deployment can have many twists and turns. It is not necessarily a direct path from transitioning existing network equipment and resources to the cloud.

Several intermediary steps can prepare the company’s equipment and personnel for the eventual move to the cloud. Not only does the network infrastructure need to evolve to fit into the new cloud architecture, but processes and IT personnel also need to adjust in order to work within the new cloud system.

Pre-Transition

Prior to transitioning to the cloud, network resources are often maintained in silos that are not conducive to the centralized nature of cloud offerings. To facilitate the transition to the cloud, network, storage and computing equipment and resources should migrate to a more pooled and centralized architecture that is in line with the cloud model.

In addition, cloud services rely on virtual tools and services. To prepare for the migration to the cloud, the company may consider transitioning its resources and network tools to a more virtualized environment.

Cloud services often rely on modules or blocks of vendor-neutral, pre-tested tools. Transitioning to these types of tools prior to the cloud transition can help bridge the gap between existing systems and the new cloud solutions.

Update Process

Another key aspect of cloud services is automation, which allows changes and updates to be made once and then aggregated out to network tools, resources, and devices. Preparing network assets for this type of change in the update process is critical to a smooth transition to the cloud.

Deployment Process

Not to be overlooked in the transition process is the role of the people who administer the network or cloud services. The IT personnel interacting with the cloud services must think as an internal service provider or broker. This includes understanding the client’s needs and finding the right combination of cloud tools and services to meet those requirements. Evaluating cloud providers, inventorying current cloud usage, and understanding how company departments will use internal and external cloud resources are a few key considerations.

As the transition to the cloud progresses, IT personnel roles may change and new roles may emerge. Here are a few examples:

A manager of the cloud may be needed to define cloud services.
A cloud architect may be appointed to maintain an understanding of platforms and make product and technology choices.
Finally, an operator role may emerge to provide services associated with the cloud.

While the decision to transition to the cloud may be an easy choice, the process is not so simple. Missteps along the way can lead to underutilization of the cloud services meant to increase efficiencies and simplify business processes. To get the most out of a cloud investment, take stock of existing assets, resources, tools, and personnel. Then plan a strategic and thoughtful migration to the cloud to ensure the benefits of the cloud are realized.

Keeping an SMB Afloat in a Flood: The Importance of Business Continuity Planning

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