What is a Business Continuity Plan and Does My Business Need One?

If you run a business, you need to do everything you can to make sure your business remains operational. That is why a Business Continuity Plan is important.

What is a Business Continuity Plan, and why does your small business need one? Make sure you rely on experienced IT professionals who can help you ensure your business can stay up and running in the event something happens to your network.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A Business Continuity Plan is a comprehensive plan you have in place that ensures your organization remains operational in the event of a disaster. It needs to clearly spell out what you are going to do before, during, and after something happens to your company.

Even though this sounds like a disaster recovery plan, a Business Continuity Plan is far more comprehensive. If a disruptive event takes place, a disaster recovery plan is going to help you recover your data, applications, and hardware. Whereas aB usiness Continuity Plan is going to go far beyond that, making sure your company can recover comprehensively.

Why Does Your Business Need One?

There are several key reasons why your business needs a continuity plan. These include:

1. Disaster Recovery Is Key

When people think about disasters, they usually think about floods, fires, and storms. Even though these are important, there are numerous other reasons why disaster recovery matters. For example, someone on your team may delete information accidentally. Or your company may be infected by a virus. Even though disaster recovery is not the same as business continuity, you should view disaster recovery as a part of your business continuity plan.

2. Insurance Gaps

The next reason why you need a business continuity plan is that insurance is not going to do anything to protect your data. Insurance is designed to replace your hardware and software. Your insurance company may give you money if your business is struck by a severe storm. That way, you can replace your hardware and software, but insurance is not going to do anything to help you recover your data. What are you going to do if you cannot access your data? A business continuity plan will help you still this out.

3. Data Backups Are Not Enough

You need to back up your data. Ideally, you should be following the 3-2-1 rule to make sure you have multiple copies of your data available in the event of a disaster. At the same time, data backups are not enough. What happens if you lose power? Are you going to be able to access any of those backups? A comprehensive business continuity plan should cover cloud recovery solutions and virtual servers that can help you access your data in the event of a disaster. That way, you can minimize the downtime with your business and get up and running as quickly as possible.

4. Maintain an Edge Over Your Competitors

Finally, a small business continuity plan is also important because it gives you an edge over your competitors. Disasters can happen to anyone, including your competitors, so you need to have a plan in place to deal with them. If your competitors do not have an adequate disaster recovery plan, they are going to have a significant issue responding when something happens. In contrast, you can keep your business up and running, allowing you to stay one step ahead of them. If you want your company to be successful in the current environment, you need to think about how you are going to respond to the event of a disaster. That is where we can help you.

Rely on Integrated Computer Services as Your Managed IT Service Provider

If you are looking for comprehensive IT support services, then you need to have a small business continuity plan in place. At Integrated Computer Services, we have helped countless small to medium sized businesses in the New Jersey area establish strong continuity plans. We can help you do the same, making sure your company can respond effectively in the event of a disaster. It would be our pleasure to assist you, so contact us today to learn more about how we can help you!