Though hurricane season 2006 was non-eventful for Florida, 2007’s is only months away. So imagine for a moment that a hurricane, or perhaps a fire, destroyed your business and everything you’ve worked so hard for is gone in a matter of hours. Now ask yourself: if this disaster were to happen, is my business really prepared to not only recover data and computers, but to manage people, facilities, customers, vendors and resources, and quickly return to normal operations?

In the wake of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane season for Florida and the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina, more and more companies are making the paradigm shift from disaster recovery to business continuity. The difference between the two is while disaster recovery focuses on restoring infrastructure such as buildings or computer networks in the short term, business continuity planning (BCP) is about long-term sustainability of an organization after a disaster or disruption to your business.

BCP is not a new concept; large companies have dealt with this issue for years, and now, more than ever, small- to mediumsized business owners are realizing the importance of business continuity planning. The plan should not be considered as just a project, but a continuing program that includes the entire organization. It involves identifying risks and establishing processes to ensure the continuity of critical operations and services to customers in the event of a disaster. BCP educators, which include Certified Business Continuity Planners (CBCP), use a structured methodology approach, based on industry standards, to ensure you have covered the important topics.

The BCP cycle involves the following phases:
• Identify relevant risks and rate them according to their probability of occurrence and potential effect.
• Determine the company's mission-critical business functions and recovery-time objectives.
• Craft integrated, companywide strategies and action plans to ensure continuation of mission-critical
business functions.
• Provide ongoing evaluation, testing and updating of those plans to ensure they keep pace with the risks
prevalent in the business environment and changes within the company.
How much risk are you willing to take in the event of a disaster to recover your business within a reasonable
time? SBA studies of companies experiencing a catastrophic interruption to business reveal these staggering results:
• 24% never re-opened their doors
• 42% went out of business within one year
• 72% went out of business within two years
• Hardware or system failure accounts for 78% of all data loss.

There is an abundance of FREE information available on BCP. A popular online search engine displays more than 12 million matches on the subject. The subject matter seems overwhelming and time-consuming to learn and implement properly, so most business owners neglect to give BCP its due diligence. But, depending on the size of your business, the steps may be easier than you think. Regardless of your size, you must at least think about the proper questions to be asked (and their answers) to meet your unique business needs.

Solutions begin with education. Seek outside qualified professional assistance to guide you and provide expertise to apply best practices to meet your business continuity planning and recovery needs. There are low cost approaches, such as attending a professional workshop conducted by certified instructors. Investing a day to understand better BCP, and how it relates to your business, may be the most important investment in your future.

And if you already have a plan, have you “tested” it? If so, what has changed since your BCP was last updated? If you don’t have a plan, don’t add to the statistics above by playing the odds you won’t be impacted. Bad things do happen to good people, and while there’s no guarantee you will be impacted by a disaster, putting a plan in place would provide invaluable peace of mind …just in case.

Don Wicker is business development manager for
Pinnacle Business Group and can be reached
(904) 730-4670 or dwicker@pinnacledelivered.com.