IT disasters: The first steps to recovery30 November 2005
Businesses of all sizes are becoming increasingly reliant upon information technology for day-to-day operations. While this increases working efficiency, it also makes firms vulnerable in the event of an IT disruption. Being prepared for such incidents is the best protection against the effects of an IT failure, then if the worst happens it is easier to get business back on track as quickly as possible.
But should a disruption occur and your business in unprepared recovery can still be quick and efficient. While recovery processes depend on the individual system and what exactly has caused the problem, there are a few key things that should be first on the mind of a manager trying to get systems back up and running.
Workforce contingency plan
Should IT systems go down at least you can be sure it won't affect your workforce. But in the event of a disruption to business as a result of an IT failure, it is essential to ensure that staff are aware of what is going on, and what they can do to help keep functions up and running. Using the example of a virus, staff members need to be told what they can and cannot do and use on their computers until the issue is resolved - if things are going wrong, minimise any further damage.
It's a good idea to identify alternative working arrangements, who can work from home without needing to use business networks or systems. See our feature on homeworking for more on this. If it looks like it will take some time to get back up and running, it is also a good idea to notify customers who may be expecting to receive goods or services - ensure you have contact details stored in more than one place to ensure you can do this.
Locate damage and repair
The extent of the damage and therefore what needs resolving must be identified and lost programmes be reinstalled. For example, in the case of a virus, how many and what parts of a firm's computers have been infected, and therefore how many need to be cleaned? Any type of IT disruption should prompt a system-wide diagnostic process, to ensure that all problems are resolved. Once the threat has been eliminated any data has been backed up offsite through an online service needs to be retrieved and reinstalled.
Prepare for future
If disaster strikes and you don't already have some kind of business continuity plan in place, it is a good idea to find a support service that will allow you to pay as you go, such as BT's IT Support Manager Services such as this charge a flat fee and can either work on the problem remotely or on-site.
Thus the best way to deal with an IT disaster is to be prepared and protect your business from a similar problem in the future. Having plans in place for staff homeworking, business data backed up online and maintaining IT support are invaluable precautions. It is also essential to keep security software up to date to avoid unnecessary stoppages. To find out more on keeping your systems secure, see our previous features on virus vigilance and firewalls
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