How to Protect Your Business from a Major System Failure
Running a business, there's always the risk of something untoward going wrong that wasn't expected that day. It's a good idea to be as prepared as possible to avoid a catastrophe, which can prevent you from dealing with customer enquiries or continuing the ongoing operations of the business.
What can EU businesses do to protect themselves from major system failures?
Protect Against Power Failures
A power failure can wipe out the lights, power to the PCs, knock out the elevator, and make the building unsafe for customers, guests and/or employees.
It's necessary for companies to fit emergency lighting systems inside offices and stairwells to allow people to calmly exit the building safely without having an accident. Emergency procedures must include a designated collection point that everyone is aware of (and anyone who isn't should be guided there). Then a safety officer will check that everyone is accounted for and that the building is now vacant.
To protect against a prolonged power cut in the area, a diesel generator can be purchased. It is powered by diesel fuel and can automatically kick in to replace a power grid that's suddenly failed. Canopied generators with a protective cover are unaffected by dust, wind or rain when placed outdoors.
Cloud Syncing for Remote Access
A cloud syncing service that usually includes backup features allows everyone's computer to sync new versions of files to the cloud as they are created. This avoids a scenario where files aren't backed up until the scheduled night-time backup procedure, which hasn't been run at the time that a system failure occurred.
Using a cloud syncing service, it's possible that a small team could relocate to a rented office or even a co-working space to log into the cloud to access relevant files. Phone calls may even be routed to a new number or to virtual phone accounts temporarily to answer calls while the regular systems are still down.
Microsoft Office 365 is a good example of productivity software with file syncing. Active Word and Excel documents can be attached to the OneDrive cloud to sync up each time they were saved locally. Use of online apps such as Google Sheets or Google Docs also permits access from other locations and devices. These can be later retrieved after temporarily relocating the staff.
Business Recovery Planning for Survivability
Most businesses that sustain a fire at their premises go out of business within 1-2 years. Such is the devastation of losing the building and recovering from any loss of personnel due to the unfortunate accident.
Whilst loss of confidence in the brand as well as an interruption to the supply of business services are often the cause of the businesses' demise, it's possible to protect against some of this by having a recovery plan in place. This lays out exactly what each manager must do to get their department back up and running ASAP in the event of a major outage, system failure or other problem.
System failures in one form or another befall many businesses. Don't let them signal the end of your business too.