Business Continuity is not just about making sure your IT systems can be restored in the event of a crisis. It’s about the overall ability of your organisation to resume normal operations as quickly as possible.
Very often a company will consider its disaster recovery plans as the central component of its business continuity strategy. It’s obviously vital that staff and indeed customers can still access critical data and applications during a disaster event, however there’s another important aspect that’s often missed and that’s the human factor.
In the midst of a crisis your employees may end up with nowhere to work from. IT systems might be back up and running but no thought has been given to the best way for the management team or critical staff to connect and work through the crisis. Workplace displacement can create additional chaos at an already stressful time. It can also impact on the wellbeing of staff who are already knocked off balance by what’s happened.
In years gone by you’d just send your staff home if your office could no longer function. Today though it’s a completely different story. Customers and users expect uninterrupted services no matter what’s happened and no matter the size of the business.
That’s why disaster recovery and workplace recovery need to be considered hand-in-hand. A dual action response allows you to react positively by prioritising your most important assets – your IT systems and your employees.
“Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of DR planning is the personnel plan.” – IDC
While mobile technology means staff could pop to the local coffee shop to answer a few emails and make some calls, if not considered properly this type of recovery could actually add to the crisis being faced. What’s important is to have a professional workspace available for your key employees at a location that best suits you when an incident occurs.
By combining a people-focused with an IT-focused approach your business continuity services will get you back to work on an even keel.
As the UK’s most accredited cloud company, iomart operates to ISO 22301, the international standard for business continuity, and has been delivering the most robust backup, disaster recovery, and connectivity solutions for over 20 years.