Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

There are many threats to business – many are cybersecurity related and, with all the talk of Iran, North Korea, China and other countries attacking businesses, it is easy to overlook other major threats that need to be considered. Virtually all businesses are shut down without power or broadband service, so there are some simple things to consider that will help your organization make it through the winter and storm seasons facing much of the world. Keep in mind, earthquakes are an issue to consider as well. Just this week, in fact, there was one that was recorded at 4.7 magnitude and felt in Connecticut. It could have triggered a tsunami, which could have easily affected local power stations.

Here are some things to consider to ensure your business keeps running in the case of natural disasters and power outages.

1. Have a solid power protection strategy and UPS system in place connected to vital components within your organization. Often, a power outage can be brief, but the associated spikes in power delivery can fry equipment, making it unusable. A business would then have to wait hours, days or weeks for replacement equipment to be purchased and configured.
2. Have redundant hardware when possible. As mentioned above, time to procure and configure new hardware can be lengthy, causing unnecessary downtime. If cost is an issue, use eBay (News - Alert) or Amazon to acquire used equipment – it’s good enough to keep the company running in a crisis.
3. Certainly, cloud is not a panacea, but definitely consider the cloud where it makes sense. While cloud is not less secure than on-premises solutions, there have been many cases of cloud servers being left unsecured – undoubtedly because there was an assumption by users that added security was in place. The reality is when using platform as a service or PaaS and similar solutions, you need to also ensure your data is protected from hacking.
4. If you have a generator, be sure it is tested regularly – weekly is optimal. Often, companies spend money on a generator, but do not do the testing needed to ensure it works when needed.
5. Test your business continuity plan often. This includes not only power-protection systems but making sure backups are working properly, etc. This can help not only in the case of a data center flood, but in case your organization is hit with ransomware.

Unfortunately, in the real world, companies tend to invest in business continuity solutions and strategies after they have been hit with some sort of problem. This can be a costly impetus to do items 1-5, which today are considered business 101.