Whether it’s against fire, storms, earthquakes, or widespread viral outbreaks, disaster recovery is a vital part of keeping your business going. With the current pandemic, most businesses are seeing a very real need for a disaster recovery plan. Often, that plan incorporates remote teams.
Risks of Data Loss
According to surveys conducted by Gartner in 2017 and 2015, roughly 80% of businesses face a need for disaster recovery for their IT. However, in spite of the risks, only about 20% of businesses maintain a business continuity plan (according to FEMA). The end result is that about 90% of small businesses fail within a year of a disaster if they can’t reopen within five days.
Keeping your business going after disasters—or even while they’re in progress—is key to being able to outlast any event. Using a remote team can help with that, but only if it’s managed effectively.
Using Remote Teams as Part of Your Disaster Recovery Plan
For most businesses, shifting employees to working remotely has become a necessary part of handling the current pandemic. Remote teams can act as a crucial part of a disaster recovery plan, whether that disaster involves disease, fires, hurricanes, or any other event that could impact your business’s IT and operations.
Following are some tips for using remote teams as part of your disaster recovery plan.
Determine what can be done remotely
The first part of using remote teams is to know what operations can be handled off site. Many projects and operations can be done on a laptop with a secure internet connection, while others may require personnel to be present at your facility. By having a list on hand of which operations can be carried out by remote workers, you’ll be prepared to shift those tasks accordingly in the event of a disaster.
Know who will do what and how
Just as important as knowing what will be done outside your office is having a clear plan of who will perform those tasks. Right now, many businesses are asking current employees to work from home, fulfilling the same duties they would otherwise perform in-house. In some cases, hiring out third party contractors may be necessary to keep important business operations going.
Make needed network changes
Switching to remote work may necessitate changes in your network. Plan how your now-remote team will access your company’s network and how your data will be kept secure. For instance, you might switch to a cloud hosting service for your business’s applications in order to make them accessible remotely.
Any adjustments you plan should have an actionable procedure in place for bringing those changes about.
Disaster Recovery for Remote Work
Remote teams a great way to keep your business going in the event of a disaster, but you also need to account for them in your disaster recovery plan. Companies that routinely use remote work as part of their operations need to safeguard the data their workers use and produce, and that becomes doubly important during times of crisis.
Prepare to back up remote data
The data your remote team produces should be backed up regularly, so prepare a way to do so. Synching with a cloud backup storage system can provide an easy way to keep remote data safe from loss due to power failures, accidents, or other events.
Plan how data will be shared
For remote teams that need to work together, you’ll want to make sure collaboration is supported remotely. That way, if any of your remote workers are suddenly unable to fulfill their duties, you can have others carry on their tasks until they get back online. There are numerous applications such as Asana or Trello that make remote collaboration easy, and video conferencing software can facilitate daily communication on projects.
As for the data stored on your team’s computers, making that data accessible to others on the team is important as well. Cloud hosting can easily fulfill that role.
Establish multiple lines of communication
Communication is key to making sure your remote team keeps functioning through a disaster. If something happens that keeps a few of your team members from being able to work, you need to make sure you’re aware of that fact when it happens. As such, collect emails and phone numbers from each of your remote workers and keep them up to date.
Using Remote Teams in Disaster Scenarios
Making sure you have clear remote operating procedures with their own safeguards can keep your business going through any crisis without risking data or losing too much capacity. We can help you further through cloud-based solutions such as application hosting and backup services.
Disaster Recovery and Remote Teams
Whether it’s against fire, storms, earthquakes, or widespread viral outbreaks, disaster recovery is a vital part of keeping your business going. With the current pandemic, most businesses are seeing a very real need for a disaster recovery plan. Often, that plan incorporates remote teams.
Risks of Data Loss
According to surveys conducted by Gartner in 2017 and 2015, roughly 80% of businesses face a need for disaster recovery for their IT. However, in spite of the risks, only about 20% of businesses maintain a business continuity plan (according to FEMA). The end result is that about 90% of small businesses fail within a year of a disaster if they can’t reopen within five days.
Keeping your business going after disasters—or even while they’re in progress—is key to being able to outlast any event. Using a remote team can help with that, but only if it’s managed effectively.
Using Remote Teams as Part of Your Disaster Recovery Plan
For most businesses, shifting employees to working remotely has become a necessary part of handling the current pandemic. Remote teams can act as a crucial part of a disaster recovery plan, whether that disaster involves disease, fires, hurricanes, or any other event that could impact your business’s IT and operations.
Following are some tips for using remote teams as part of your disaster recovery plan.
Determine what can be done remotely
The first part of using remote teams is to know what operations can be handled off site. Many projects and operations can be done on a laptop with a secure internet connection, while others may require personnel to be present at your facility. By having a list on hand of which operations can be carried out by remote workers, you’ll be prepared to shift those tasks accordingly in the event of a disaster.
Know who will do what and how
Just as important as knowing what will be done outside your office is having a clear plan of who will perform those tasks. Right now, many businesses are asking current employees to work from home, fulfilling the same duties they would otherwise perform in-house. In some cases, hiring out third party contractors may be necessary to keep important business operations going.
Make needed network changes
Switching to remote work may necessitate changes in your network. Plan how your now-remote team will access your company’s network and how your data will be kept secure. For instance, you might switch to a cloud hosting service for your business’s applications in order to make them accessible remotely.
Any adjustments you plan should have an actionable procedure in place for bringing those changes about.
Disaster Recovery for Remote Work
Remote teams a great way to keep your business going in the event of a disaster, but you also need to account for them in your disaster recovery plan. Companies that routinely use remote work as part of their operations need to safeguard the data their workers use and produce, and that becomes doubly important during times of crisis.
Prepare to back up remote data
The data your remote team produces should be backed up regularly, so prepare a way to do so. Synching with a cloud backup storage system can provide an easy way to keep remote data safe from loss due to power failures, accidents, or other events.
Plan how data will be shared
For remote teams that need to work together, you’ll want to make sure collaboration is supported remotely. That way, if any of your remote workers are suddenly unable to fulfill their duties, you can have others carry on their tasks until they get back online. There are numerous applications such as Asana or Trello that make remote collaboration easy, and video conferencing software can facilitate daily communication on projects.
As for the data stored on your team’s computers, making that data accessible to others on the team is important as well. Cloud hosting can easily fulfill that role.
Establish multiple lines of communication
Communication is key to making sure your remote team keeps functioning through a disaster. If something happens that keeps a few of your team members from being able to work, you need to make sure you’re aware of that fact when it happens. As such, collect emails and phone numbers from each of your remote workers and keep them up to date.
Using Remote Teams in Disaster Scenarios
Making sure you have clear remote operating procedures with their own safeguards can keep your business going through any crisis without risking data or losing too much capacity. We can help you further through cloud-based solutions such as application hosting and backup services.
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