As tropical storm Edouard approaches, you will undoubtedly find grocery stores and gas stations packed with people preparing themselves to be without power, water, and potentially fuel. Maybe this tropical storm will fizzle, or just dump some much needed rain in Texas and southwestern Louisiana. This is, however, a perfect opportunity to review your disaster recovery plan. As we prepare our homes, we should make sure that our businesses are also prepared for closures, power outages, or worse.

Disaster Recovery Plan

It is not too late to perform additional system backups to tape, CDs, or to servers in other geographic locations. If you don’t have a plan for backing up your key accounting records and master records (customer lists, vendor lists, employee information, inventory records, etc.), there is one question you’ve got to ask yourself . . . . “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do you?
If you don’t have a plan today, then make it a priority to start one. Periodically update it to account for changes in your business. There are many options for creating a plan ranging from having an outside consultant assist with creation and documentation to having your employees document their job performance procedures and having your IT department take home tapes every night.
Of course, adequate commercial insurance is integral component to disaster recovery. Most responsible business owners have insurance, but is it enough? Are disasters or acts of terrorism excluded? Make sure you know what your insurance policies cover and document the amounts and claims procedures in your disaster recover plan.
Remember, it is much easier to recover from a disaster if you anticipated and planned for it.