Five Key Areas to Consider When Planning for a Disaster

By Marshall Stevens

Another hurricane season is just around the corner. While the worst of the season isn’t here yet, we know that planning now to prepare for upcoming summer storms is crucial. As business owners, we often think to protect inventory, furniture, computers and our actual facilities, but one area that is all too often overlooked is our business data and records.

Company information is a business’s most important asset, so much so that if information would become inaccessible or was destroyed, you could be in danger of losing your business. The key to making sure this doesn’t happen to your business is developing a disaster recovery or contingency plan.

These business plans address all possible scenarios that could cause your company to have “down time,” whether it’s from a hurricane, fire or power outage. The plans provide solutions to keep a business up and running so you could handle all business functions even if you couldn’t get into your facility or network.

Instead of trying to recover files after a storm or other catastrophe happens, planning now is crucial. The following are areas to consider when developing or updating your disaster recovery or business contingency plan:

• Key document back-ups – Ask yourself, “If a disaster would strike, would I be able to still provide files for an audit or court case?” Whether you make copies or you have external hard drives, back-up everything. Store back-ups in multiple locations, so if a disaster affects your office, another copy of your key records will be accessible.

• 24-7 access – Because disasters or “down time” can happen at any time, make sure you can access your information no matter what time of day or what day of the week it is. Have a spare key with you at all times just in case your building is locked during certain hours.

• Secure locations – Choose storage or management locations that can withstand high, sustained winds, are non-metal buildings, and are also in non-flood zones. Make sure the location is secured with alarms, security cameras and pass codes. These extra security features will hopefully prevent others, including looters, from accessing your information. If you choose to house information in a professional records management center, ask them about their disaster recovery or contingency plan.

• Climate-controlled locations with dust-free vaults – Because temperature can negatively affect documents, be sure your storage location is climate-controlled. If you’re planning on securing information stored on electronic media, find a location that has a temperature and humidity- controlled, dust-free media vault. Also, make sure the vault has a dry sprinkler system. This way, if the sprinkler system is triggered, your media won’t get wet.

• Have an expert weigh in – Take time to speak with a local company that specializes in records management and disaster recovery planning. Find a firm that can give you ideas on what you should be keeping and how. Speak with a firm that has a secure facility, has a good track record of securing confidential information and has a backup generator that will keep things up and running during power outages.

To simplify your disaster recovery planning, consider converting key documents to electronic format. These files can be housed through a password-protected, content management system which acts as a virtual file room. With certain document management software, your most important information can be stored off-site and accessed 24-7 with a click of a mouse. Plus, if something would happen to your physical building, your information could be accessed with an Internet connection and would also be secured from falling into the wrong hands.

Once your disaster recovery or business contingency plan is in place, remember to revisit it and update it at least annually. Florida business owners know that hurricane season can be an uneasy time, but by planning now to protect your information and business, your business can stay up and running regardless of the weather. Plus, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your information won’t be affected by the storm.

About the Author
Marshall Stevens is Co-Owner and President of Stevens & Stevens Business Records Management, Inc.,a full-service records and information management company, providing services throughout the Southeastern United States. He has nearly 20 years experience in the records management industry and holds a master’s degree in finance and international business from the University of Florida. Stevens and his company are active members of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA), Professional Records and Information Service Management (PRISM), Association of Contingency Planners (ACP), Association of Legal Administrators (ALA), Association of Imaging and Information Management (AIIM) and Tampa Bay Technology Forum (TBTF) and National Association for Information Destruction (NAID). Visit www.ssbrm.com and follow on Twitter (http://twitter.com/StevensBRM) or Facebook (http://facebook.com/ssbrm).