Disaster Recovery can take many different forms; do you know what your plan is?
Today’s post is from our SafeSourcing Archive.
No one ever likes to acknowledge the fact that sometimes unforeseen bad things happen in life. Disaster strikes and we are left to try and pick up the pieces and recover. In the corporate world disaster can take many forms and the companies that move forward the quickest after disaster strikes are the ones who find the greatest success.
Today’s blog is going to touch on a few of these areas and what you might be thinking about as you plan your strategies for handling disaster.
IT Disaster Recovery – In today’s world where data is “king” disaster of the IT variety can be devastating to a company. Having continuous availability to your company’s system and data is critically important and protection can come in three types of control measures. Preventative measures are those strategies that focus on preventing events (Natural or man-made) from occurring in the first place. Corrective measures focus on the plan of attack once a disaster has struck. Designating departments, contacts and individuals as part of the process is extremely important. Detective plans have a primary focus on the detection and discovery of a potential disaster. Many software solution companies can help provide this protection.
Building Disaster Recovery – Another area that can be affected by a disaster or emergency are your physical buildings. When faced with an emergency many companies have not fully thought out how they will respond. There are so many consulting companies who help companies plan for emergencies every day most of them focus on a similar process. Develop your response plan, deploy the plan throughout the organization with support coming from the “C” level. This deployment involves training of your staff and regular reviews and maintenance of the plan as your infrastructure changes.
Disaster Recovery Transportation Services – While not every company depends heavily on their shipping lanes, those that do understand how critical the availability of those is to their business and nothing affects them like natural disasters. Develop a network of secondary and contingent shipping lanes that can step and take over within a moment’s notice. As is the case with many contingent services, you will pay a premium rate, however it pales in comparison of the potential lost revenue a disaster can create.
Disaster Recovery Supply Chain – Going hand-in-hand with your shipping lane emergency planning is planning for alternate emergency suppliers. When the earthquake hit Japan in 2011 many companies had no idea the affects the disaster would have on their business. Manufacturers in Japan were shut down and items like Magnetic Tapes and Electronics suddenly became unavailable and US companies were left scrambling to find alternative sources. Determining contingent supply sources plays a huge role in ensuring mission critical items stay available. Many times online bidding events can help define these secondary and tertiary sources of suppliers.
For more information about how SafeSourcing can assist with connecting you with companies who can help with emergency and disaster planning, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.
We look forward to your comments.
