Fire, flood, power failure, computer crash, theft, pandemic, terrorism — the list of disasters that could befall your small business is long and frightening. While having a disaster recovery plan is a must, how you implement it can mean the difference between a minor hiccup in your business operations and a major, perhaps even permanent, failure. Here are some tips on implementing your disaster recovery plan from Chartered Accountant Marc Belaiche, President of
TorontoJobs.ca in Mississauga.
Establish a disaster recovery team – “You should have a team of people identified and trained to execute the plan if disaster strikes,” advises Belaiche. “If one person in your organization has the primary responsibility for implementing the plan, make sure he or she has a backup and that the primary and backup individuals are never away or on vacation at the same time.”
Communicate with your staff – “Effective implementation of your plan will occur only if everyone knows what to do in the event of a disaster,” explains Belaiche. “Document your disaster recovery procedures in your office manual, share them with staff and back them up in a secure location off-site. You should also have some way of communicating with staff members if disaster strikes outside of regular business hours.”
Test the plan in advance – “Small businesses should be proactive in testing their disaster recovery plans on a regular basis,” says Belaiche. “It is a good idea to make sure the plan works in practice, as well as in theory. A crucial part of implementation is testing the plan in various worst-case scenarios. Test the process, the people and the infrastructure involved.”
Update the plan regularly – “New threats, such as computer viruses and spyware, are created every day,” says Belaiche. “Some organizations spend time and money developing a disaster recovery plan that fails upon implementation because they neglected to maintain their recovery capability. New disasters can occur and regular updates to procedures are key to effective implementation.”
Decide what parts of your plan to implement first – “If disaster strikes, first secure your financial records, inventory and customer lists if they have been lost or compromised. With this information, your company can still continue to operate, even if it may still be significantly compromised,” explains Belaiche. ”Then determine how long it will take you to get back on track and identify what information or resources have been lost.” Other implementation priorities include letting staff, clients and suppliers know what has happened and what you are doing about it - the most important thing is letting everyone know that the business is still operating. Get the expert help you need to fix the most urgent problems.
Survive – “Your goal is to implement a plan that will ensure continuity and allow your business to run seamlessly while going through the restoration process,” says Belaiche. “A well-implemented plan will help you recover quickly and effectively from an unforeseen disaster and emergency, thus avoiding significant business interruption and loss.”
Brought to you by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario
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The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario’s 33,000 Chartered Accountants and 5,000 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession’s high standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct. The Institute works in partnership with the other provincial Institutes of Chartered Accountants and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants to provide national standards and programs that are used as examples around the world. </em>
