Business Continuity in its entirety can be a complicated professional service and one many companies shy away from. Nonetheless for any size business it is an area that should be taken seriously. It takes time to put together and careful planning but the result is worth the effort when something happens that could jeopardise your business. It’s even becoming the norm for SMEs to be asked about their business continuity procedures when tendering for business.
The business continuity assessment can be split into sections for ease of reference. Document relevant details/information/procedures and you will then have a business continuity plan. The following questions are all key questions in our business continiuty service:
- Are your IT systems critical to the running of your business?
- If your IT systems went down do you have manual processes that could maintain critical documentary/administrative functions?
- Do you know how long it would take to recover IT functions if your system went down?
- Who would restore your system if it went down and do you have their contact details?
- Do you have a tested IT disaster recovery plan?
- Is your network anti-virus software up to date?
- Are there documented IT security policies and procedures in place?
- Are all your computer users fully aware of email and internet usage policies?
- Is your company system part of a larger network?
- Do you know how many platforms/servers/applications or operating systems support critical business functions?
- Is expertise of how to use your IT system, knowledge of where critical documents are electronically stored etc, limited to one individual?
- Do you have vital computer information stored on back up disks held off premises?
When you’ve answered all those questions the resulting document is known as a Business Continuity Plan. At DNA IT Solutions we help our customers to define what’s important to them from an IT perspective, the critical systems that they would need in the event of a disaster and then we help them to formulate a plan of action.
