Your organization is powering the communities in which you serve, and your services are critical to their lives and businesses. And with that comes great responsibility. Not only to keep the power humming, but to ensure you are operating your system efficiently. It is an art, and you and your staff have built quite the well-oiled machine.
And while operationally things are running smoothly, preparing for the unexpected should always be a top priority. The risks to your daily operations seem to be growing exponentially each year. From hackers to Mother Nature, you need to be on your toes and vigilant – with a plan for whatever comes your way.
Battling Mother Nature & Protecting Core Data
From flooding and mudslides to fires and earthquakes, your organization can end up battling Mother Nature to keep the power on in your service areas.
The backbone of your company quite simply is the data it maintains. Whether it is your customer information or your last month’s billing, you need to ensure this information is not only backed up but also secure. In the event of a natural disaster or a massive system failure, you need to be confident that this core data, imperative to your business’s operations, is completely replicated and accessible.
Your organization must have a disaster recovery plan and system in place to protect your valuable data and ensure business continuity in the face of disaster.
Doing the Due Diligence
When researching a new disaster recovery service, or reevaluating your current plan, it is imperative your organization ask key questions that will play a pivotal role if and when a disaster strikes.
- System Locality: Is the disaster recovery service location geographically diverse enough to not be affected by the same event as production location?
- Establish Recovery Time Objective (RTO): How soon will systems be available in the event of a disaster?
- Establish Recovery Point Objective (RPO): How recent will the data be?
- Access: How will systems be accessed in the event of a disaster, and do business processes need to change to accommodate?
- Data Validation: Who will perform necessary failover tests to ensure recoverability and accessibility of data and at what frequency?
- Prioritization of Systems: In a disaster scenario, not all systems may be created equal, and clarification is necessary:
- Do all systems have the same priority?
- Are there mission-critical systems that need to be the highest priority?
- Do they all need to be up at the same time (same RTO)?
- Do they all have the same data interval requirements (same RPO)?
Leveraging Technology & Securing Data
As you research disaster recovery services and craft your plan, it is also important not to overlook the security of that data. You will also want to ensure that while the data may be accessible in a time of great need, that it is only accessible to your company and not the cybercriminals prowling about.
- How is my critical data secured?
- What is the level of encryption and authentication?
- What steps are being taken to secure access points?
- Do you have multiple copies?
- Are any copies air gapped (isolating a copy from access) and/or immutable (unable to be altered or changed)?
A reputable IT company can help you not only guarantee the viability and accessibility of the data, but also ensure it will be locked down and secure until the time comes you need it.
Access It Anywhere
In the event of an emergency, things can and will be chaotic. Accessibility of your core business data will be the cornerstone of your recovery process. The best approach on the disaster recovery side of things is to make accessing your data as painless as possible.
The most effective disaster recovery services will not only be cost effective but offer you access anytime, anywhere.
With the right technology partner, all your organization will need is a computer and internet access to get business operations up and running.
Test Runs & Pasteur
Louis Pasteur famously said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”
This saying served the famous scientist well in his endeavors, but it is a mantra that can lead all of us in the public power world as well.
Once you have selected a disaster recovery service (or reevaluated your existing plan), it is imperative to complete these three steps:
- Document the plan fully
- Distribute the plan to the entire organization, highlighting key personnel
- Communicate the plan
Give your disaster recovery plan a test run – a dress rehearsal of sorts. Walk your staff through the process of what happens the moment Mother Nature strikes and procedures to access your data once all are safe to do so. Discuss best practices after the exercise. Share experiences and concerns. Document. And do it often.
Stepping through disaster scenarios and communicating them across your organization is not taboo – ignoring the impact of a disaster and being ill-prepared for one is.
No Trouble with the Curve
The bottom line is to prepare for a variety of disasters as much as possible. When time is of the essence, your staff knows definitively what needs to be done to get your organization back online – and return service to your communities.
A solid disaster recovery plan is critical for business operations – and your community – to bounce back from a major event. Once in place, your organization can proceed with your day-to-day operations knowing your data is backed up and secure with encryption and strict authentication…and is prepared for whatever curveball Mother Nature throws your way.