Disaster can strike at any time, in any way. While natural disasters (such as fire or flood) are not as common as you’d think, your company can still be compromised by instances such as power outages, malware attacks, and computer viruses. Many businesses have a simple data recovery plan in place, and that is it. While it’s important to have a data recovery plan in the case of data loss, you probably need a more sustainable plan.
So many businesses depend upon technology to accomplish their daily tasks. If disaster were to occur, they could lose business-critical information, put their vital information at risk, and be forced to put their business on hold. Most businesses cannot afford the risks that come with not have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan in place.
For this reason, we have developed a checklist to aid you in developing your disaster recovery and business continuity plan.
- Identify a Project Team
The first step to creating your disaster recovery and business continuity plan is to identify the project team members and project schedule. Make sure that you include any one who will be impacted by a potential disaster. If you all key staff members are involved and included in the planning process. - Revisit Your Data Backup Plan
Most businesses have a data backup plan in place. If you do not, we suggest you create one now. A data backup plan consists of ways to backup your data should an undesirable event (such as a natural disaster or malware attack) occur. Many companies are relying on the Cloud to store and backup their business-critical data for its ease of use and flexibility. Businesses can retrieve data stored in the Cloud from any location, making it a desirable form of data backup.While the Cloud has its advantages, many businesses have concerns about data security in the Cloud. For this reason, many businesses choose to store and backup their data off-site. Choose the plan that works best for your firm and revisit it once a year to make sure the proper security measures are in place. - Review Potential Areas of Impact
In order to develop a disaster recovery and business continuity plan, you have to be able to predict the potential areas of impact. Review the potential disruptions that could occur in the case of a disaster. - Create Disaster Readiness Strategies
Once you have identified the areas that could be impacted by a disaster, you need to begin creating your disaster response strategies. Look at each area in your business and establish a plan for business continuity. Ask yourself the following questions as you are developing your business continuity strategies:- If ______ is affected, how can we get our business up and running in a timely manner?
- How will we respond to loss of data? Do we have a plan to prevent data loss from occurring?
- How will we replace damaged equipment?
- Do we have policies in place if a disaster occurs? What role will our employees play?
These are good questions to ask as you are creating your disaster readiness strategies. The better prepared you are to face a disaster, the better off your company will be.
- Implement the Plan
Once you have created strategies and developed your disaster recovery and business continuity plan, it is time to implement the plan. Make your employees aware of the disaster recovery plan and begin implementing applicable security measures so your accounting firm is ready if a disaster should occur. - Testing and Maintenance
After your plan is implemented and your data back and security measures are in place, you will need to test and maintain your plan. Simply developing the plan is no good; you have to ensure that the plan works as you predicted. Testing might reveal weak areas in your plan and give you the opportunity to create a plan that better protects your business.
Once you have developed an effective disaster recovery and business continuity plan, you need to be actively maintaining your plan. Make sure your software is up-to-date, your policies are current, and your backup methods are reliable. Proper maintenance will save your business from losing business-critical information and time.
As you can see, developing and maintaining a current disaster recovery and business continuity plan is critical for accountants. To learn more about the importance of developing such plans, click here.