Technological revolutions seem to come fast and quick these days.
Today, the name of the game is digitalization. Businesses of all sizes and shapes are all scrambling to prepare for the final takeover of digital technology.
As a result, digital technology is being implemented everywhere. Whenever and wherever possible, tasks are automated, communication is digitalized, and management outsourced.
Assignments for employees are now given out by task management programs on your computer—the same computer that tracks your efficiency; team communication is conveyed and stored through messenger apps and project management tools; business meetings now happen in virtual conference rooms, providing real-time picture from New York to Sydney.
Digital technology has also introduced completely new dimensions into the business landscape. For one, we’ve learned to collect and analyze enormous quantities of data. Businesses use digital technology not only to optimize processes but to make decisions, too. The delivery of a service or product has also been impacted by digitalization: shopping, for example, is now largely a digital phenomenon.
At the same time, business boundaries are dissolving, and even small businesses can now operate across the globe.
But what happens when the digital fails?
The Cost of Digital Failure
Given how reliant businesses are on I.T. today, it is not difficult to imagine the scope of damage that can be caused by a technology-related mistake.
For the most part, the errors are caused by people, not the technology itself. Employees will click on links they’re not supposed to click on, delete an important dataset, mismatch an order, or send the wrong email to the wrong customer.
Even with lots of companies investing in I.T. training, it would be naive to expect humans to be anything other than… well, human. And how does that old saying go? “To err is human”!
There is also always the chance of an outsider cyberattack. Contrary to pop culture depictions, most hacks are usually quite straightforward, requiring an employee to actually click on a malicious link or enter personal data.
The aim of modern cyberattacks is usually to get access to sensitive data and demand a “ransom” (hence the name “ransomware”) in exchange for a key that will return access to the owner. However, in most cases, the attackers need not inflict direct damage to destroy a business, as 90% of companies without an I.T. business continuity plan never recover.
What Is an I.T. Business Continuity Plan?
A general-purpose disaster recovery plan is a set of protocols that are to be enabled should a disaster strike the company. The disasters can be as small as a minor breach, and as big as an earthquake. The better the recovery plan, the more prepared the company is against a wide variety of threats.
Techopedia suggests that a healthy business continuity plan will encompass the following:
There are a couple of lethal misconceptions about business continuity plans that we’d like to address.
First of all, the fact that you have insurance will not save your company if reputational damage has been done. You might get reimbursed for a part of your financial losses, but the market share, loss of customers, and setback in the development of your next big launch will be damaged irreversibly.
It’s also common to believe that business continuity plans are unnecessary; it’s easy to assume your company’s employees and managers will know what to do when things go sideways. Well, as displayed on multiple occasions, even the best employees don’t know how to react, and leaving everyone to take their own initiative only adds to the chaos.
If you’re ready to put together your own business continuity and disaster recovery plan, we can help you map out the process and implement the changes. Call us at 844-44-JMARK, send an email to jmarkit@JMARK.com, or just get in touch through the Contact Us page of this website.
