IT Business Continuity
For a business to stay operational, it is far more crucial for mission critical services to continue operating during a crisis than trying to revert to business as usual. The objective of IT business continuity is to keep these mission critical services up and running even during emergency situations. This should ideally happen seamlessly at the back end without any impact whatsoever on the end user's experience.
IT Business Continuity Planning
IT business continuity requires a lot of proactive planning and execution and cannot be put together through intermittent spurts of activities so that the end user has continued access to mission critical services.
This is important to protect client interests, stay compliant from a legal standpoint and prevent the possibility of health hazards or fatalities. Some of the common attributes found in an IT business continuity plan have been listed below:
- A framework that ensures operational continuity for mission critical IT processes
- Resource requirements for the IT infrastructure to stay operational. This list covers aspects such as
- Personnel whose extensive expertise is of vital importance
- Important equipment and their backup options
- Financial records
- Legal Assistance
- A Backup facility to which operations can be failed over
- Backup accommodation and so on
In addition to protecting an enterprise's business interests, financials, and public image, an IT business continuity plan is also a great opportunity to generate brand loyalty among customers which in turn leads to better business prospects. This can be achieved by conveying a proactive attitude towards staying resilient when confronted with a crisis situation that guarantees value for money to both present and prospective customers.
Investing Time and Effort into Building Your IT Business Continuity Plan
An IT business continuity plan gives the organization a blueprint for mitigating all risks related to naturally occurring catastrophes, environmental hazards and accidents induced by human error or intervention such as fires and IT infrastructural disruptions that in some cases could lead to serious casualties and in extreme cases, even loss of life.
Business disruptions can also be caused by power outages, security breaches and network infiltrations which could lead to data damage or loss, communication failures and so on.
Interruption to utility services such as transport can also impact business by preventing staff from commuting to office.
Another major concern is network security which can be compromised through cyber attacks that exploit system vulnerabilities.
Business continuity planning protects operations by ensuring resource availability and access to vital data - two crucial factors while responding to a crisis situation.
Source: https://www.disasterrecovery.org