Continuity Planning 101 — Good Habits

Example: Change the batteries in your smoke detectors when the time changes so you get two annual reminders.

Hurricane season begins on June 1, each year and lasts for six months. June 1st also triggers many people in hurricane-prone areas to review their Business Continuity (BC) plans. It may also be a good date for all organizations to use since it is very well-publicized. Of course, if you do not have a plan in place, now may be the time to get it done.

The first step is to make the first step.

Step 1 — The first and most critical step is getting the attention and commitment of top management.

Step 2 — Establish a Business Continuity Planning Committee. In a small organization this could be a single person with part time responsibility. The title is not critical (Contingency Planner, BC Coordinator) but having a designated person is vital to the success of the project.

Step 3 — Bring in an experienced consultant or reseller to get the process started. The adage “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” also holds true for BC plans. Once the business is gone, it is gone and many businesses never recover from a major business interruption.

Steps 1 and 2 only cost time mind-share. Step 3 will have an associated monetary cost but in the long-run bringing in an experienced reseller/consultant will shorten the process and result in many cost savings. Developing a quality plan can be a major task for a company of any size and an experienced reseller will have a have a library of information as a solid foundation.

Fortunately, today’s communications technologies provide businesses with many affordable options including VoIP, managed services, hosted services and SaaS (News - Alert). So what are you waiting for — make the first step today. IT

Max Schroeder is the Senior Vice President of FaxCore (News - Alert), Inc. (www.faxcore.com) and Managing Director of the DPCF.

Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) is the President and Group Editor-in-Chief at TMC and is Conference Chairman of Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO.

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