In the midst of hurricane season and with Hurricane Florence approaching, it’s a good time to assess disaster preparedness and plan for potential disruptions. We at Arcane Technologies have been reviewing our systems and processes to be sure we are ready to respond and support clients should the weather take a turn for the worse. Here are some items you should consider in your own preparedness review:
- Be sure you have a recent, successful backup of your business data in more than one location. Our clients with managed backup in their plan have both a local and off-site copy of backed-up data. We monitor the backup jobs to be sure they’ve completed successfully and address any errors that arise. If you are managing your own backup, bcheck the logs for success / failure of the backup jobs and be certain you have a recent copy off-site.
- If your office is in a low-lying area or one that is otherwise susceptible to flooding, make sure critical equipment (desktops, servers, battery backups, etc.) is off the floor. Even raising them a few inches will save systems from significant and potentially permanent damage.
- Power fluctuations and outages are likely with the high winds anticipated and saturated ground we have in the area. Consider shutting down and unplugging equipment that isn’t protected by surge suppression / battery protection.
- Educate your employees on how to get business resources in the event of an office power outage or emergency closure. For clients using Office 365, end users can access their email using the site https://outlook.office.com or via a client on their mobile device. If you are using a different email provider or have line of business applications with similar web access options, circulate those addresses / processes to employees to continue business operations even if in a limited capacity.
We provide this guidance in the spirit of “hoping for the best and preparing for the worst”. Whether or not Hurricane Florence brings disruptions , it is a reminder that preparedness is the key to business continuity. If you have any questions or concerns about your business’s readiness, feel free to contact us at 434-979-7979 or info@arcanetech.com.