Think about disaster planning as a nomadic tribe might. How do you pack only the essentials and relocate with little or no notice? How do you reestablish your business with next day efficiency?
The modern business world consists of three essential elements: virtual assets, current hard assets, and supply chain/delivery assets.
The virtual world of documents, financial accounts, and data drive the profit and loss, the income statement.
Everyone has been told to back up these data and keep a copy off premises. Try this approach:
Mission-critical data checklist
- Decide which data are truly mission critical: supply chain status, current orders, financial statements, bank accounts, payables, receivables, employee data, and customer data.
- Copy these data updated monthly. One copy goes into the safety deposit box at the bank. One to a trusted officer.
- Copy daily transactions for the month to the officer's memory stick. Update two sets at month's end.
These data will allow you to reroute supplies to temporary quarters, warn expected deliveries of delays, and keep up with daily transactions.
Assess current hard assets. Do you need brick and mortar location(s)? Keep a list of alternative available locations in that bank box.
Do you need large machinery difficult or expensive to move and set up? If so, temporary changes in locations may be out of the question. But an agreement to share capacity with a friendly competitor might solve the problem either one of you might face.
Perhaps you're in a position that replacing hard assets would not be prudent. Re-engineering your process and modernizing makes sense. In this case, insure accordingly for business interruption; see Windstorm (monoline) insurance for an example of specialized coverage to consider.
Hard asset loss needs to be prevented, contingency planned, or insured to protect company assets and reputation. Look at your key production assets and have a game plan in place.
Supply chain and deliveries data is critical in disaster planning to keep the process moving. You do not want your customers moving on to their plan B while you're recovering.
Can you store inventory in a second location? Perhaps you have customers in other states. Is permanent storage available to make a remote supply economical?
Delay supply acceptance if needed, but try not to miss deliveries. That disaster agreement with the friendly competitor might come in handy here.
Consider the mission critical aspects of your business. Think of the financial data, the hard assets, and the flow of goods when contingency planning.
For guidance on planning continuity for events and spaces, see Event Planning and Business Continuity.
If you need help implementing these steps, talk to an agent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are mission-critical data?
Mission-critical data are the records and systems you must have to operate day-to-day, such as orders, financial records, payroll, customer accounts, and supply-chain status.
How often should I update off-site backups?
At minimum, update a complete monthly copy and keep daily transaction snapshots for the current month; increase frequency if your business processes high volumes of transactions.
Should I insure hard-asset loss or replace equipment quickly?
Insurance for business interruption and asset loss is important, but also evaluate whether re-engineering processes or sharing capacity with partners can reduce downtime.
How can I keep customers during a recovery?
Communicate proactively about delays, reroute deliveries when possible, and maintain updated order and inventory data so customers can rely on your transparency and planning.