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No business owner likes to contemplate natural disasters and what they might
mean for the future of their business, but now that hurricane season has
officially begun, we at ITonCommand thought it would be a good time to talk
about this important subject. According to a "Disaster Preparedness"
survey released by Office Depot, 71% of businesses don't have a disaster plan
in place. The importance of a disaster recovery plan extends beyond
gale-force winds and driving rain. What about other hazards, such as fire,
flood, and even terrorism?
What would happen to your
business if disaster were to strike tomorrow?
We’ve put together a few simple steps to help you prepare for the
worst and protect your business during hurricane season and against
other havoc-wreaking hazards that could threaten your operations.
How important is it to have a disaster recovery/business continuity
plan?
Consider these statistics:
· 40%
of all small-to-medium-sized businesses will go out of business if they
cannot get to their data in the first 24 hours after a crisis. –Gartner
· 43%
of companies never resume business following a major fire. Another
35% are out of business within 3 years. –U.S. National Fire Protection
Agency
· 93%
of companies that had trouble restoring their data after a disaster are
out of business within 18 months. –HP
· More
than one in four businesses will experience a significant crisis in any
given year. --The Association of Small Business Development Centers.
Don’t let your business be a statistic. Knowing the dangers that
threaten your business and implementing the right tools, technology, and
disaster recovery/business continuity plans may save your employees and
your business someday.
Learn how one ITonCommand customer kept their employees safe and their
customers happy during the Holiday Blizzard of 2006.
Disasters come in all forms.
First, identify the hazards your business is most likely to face and
prepare accordingly.
Next, focus on the
safety of your employees.
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Ensure your office is
equipped to handle employees who may be trapped inside. Have a
first-aid kit, flashlights, batteries, bottled water, a
battery-powered radio, blankets, and a supply of non-perishable food
items.
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What can you do to keep your
business operating in the event your facility/office were closed for
several days, damaged, or even completely destroyed? Ask yourself
these important questions and build a disaster recovery/business
continuity plan:
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*Do you have backup copies
of all essential records including accounting, employee data,
customer lists, inventory, and key contact information and
passwords?
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*Only 11 percent of businesses maintain backup copies at an off-site
location. And 18 percent don't make backup copies at all.
If you're a
small-to-medium-sized business with limited I.T. expertise and
resources, how can you implement an effective disaster recovery/business
continuity plan? Call ITonCommand and learn about our built-in
disaster recovery/business continuity plan that includes:
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Remote access to your entire corporate
network--not just email. Your employees will be able to login
to their office desktops from any Internet connection and have
access to all of their corporate data and applications including
email, corporate folders and directories, and all of your business
software.
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Run Your Business, Not Your Network! Even when disaster strikes.
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