What can business owners learn from Sandy?

Days after Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, 8 million homes and businesses were without power.

How long could your business survive without computers, email, and phones? Would it have made a difference if you had uninterrupted access to your e-mail, your website was still up and running, and mission-critical computer applications were still operational even if your place of business was without power?

Cloud computing, and specifically private cloud solutions, can allow you to operate your e-mail systems and other computer-based business applications from a remote, secure data center.  Most data centers have a robust infrastructure that includes multiple internet providers, backup generators, and mirrored backup sites that ensure their hosted systems stay up and running, regardless of the weather or other factors. With hosted e-mail and applications, employees can access your system from anywhere and from any device.  Even in the case of a massive power event, employees would still have access to needed resources from Smart Phones or cellular-enabled tablet devices. As importantly, ensuring that your company has a comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity plan is critical.  This plan should encompass more than just data backup and should be fully integrated into your company’s overall strategic plan.

If you were fortunate enough not to have your business operations disrupted by Sandy, try and learn a lesson from the experience of others who were not so fortunate. Consult with your IT advisor(s) and make sure you have a plan in place that will enable your business to survive a catastrophic event.

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