Disasters are expensive. This is a no-brainer to most businesses, and they are (more often than not) prepared for these kinds of events, arming themselves with generators, backup telecom providers, uninterruptable power supplies (UPS), and a flurry of other products that provide business continuity when nature's dice land on their backyards. However, after major power outages in U.S. cities, regulators at the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC (News - Alert)) have provided recommendations for futures and securities firms concerning business continuity strategies, namely those to do with disaster recovery. They issued these recommendations with the hope that they'll convince businesses that haven't gotten up to speed, to up the ante on their disaster response efforts and avoid disruptions of services.
Of course, many managed service providers have this covered for their customers. Despite this, it's always good to make sure you have four aces in your hand when dealing with unexpected disasters.
For example, businesses can hire more than one service provider in tandem wherever possible. Two internet connections are better than one. The same can be said for telephone services. Anything you can multiply will help you prevent suffering from an outage. Perhaps, during a disaster, one of your providers is able to service your area while the other is down.
Relying on a single location for a business can be a burden during a disaster. For this purpose, it's best to reform your business' infrastructure in a way that accommodates for telecommuting. If disaster strikes, have your employees telecommute from home instead of showing up at your brick and mortar location. If things wouldn't work out that way, you should arrange some remote office space when you know a bad storm is coming, so that you'll have it ready in case something unruly happens to your place of business.
Also, don't forget to keep your customers informed, on your website and premises (if at all possible), about the measures being taken to get business back on track, or any alternative places where they can come and get what they need from you.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson