by Last Updated on May 23, 2018 by Sohail Qaisar
There are many threats that can have an impact on your business, but technology should be one of your key concerns when it comes to emergency planning. Due to the fact that business and tech have become so closely intertwined, it is more essential than ever that you not only ensure that your digital tools are protected from threat, but also that you have an action plan in place should a worst-case scenario occur. There are a few areas that you should focus on, with cybercrime and offline incidents being the major elements to look at first. If you want to protect your business, your employees, and your customers, here’s a checklist that will give you the means to create a much more robust response to even the most damaging of emergency situations.
Have an audit
Your first step should always be to conduct an audit of your current status. This will entail compiling a list of your assets and do a risk-assessment into their individual vulnerabilities. Identify exactly what could go wrong and create an action plan that will prioritize your responses in the worst cases. Your risk assessment should cover the short and long-term effects of the emergency, as well as identifying the nature of the possible threats. This can refer to both cyber attacks and external situations like environmental changes (burst pipes, earthquakes, etc.). A good step here is to contact IT support Reading professionals, who can advise and guide your action plan, ensuring that there are no missed elements that may affect your ability to return to normality. They can also help to create a ranking of the likelihood of each threat and assess each one impact on your business.
Create a response plan
Your next step should be to create an emergency response plan. These will often be dictated by legal requirements, such as the necessity of informing customers in the event of a data breach, or the local fire department in the event of a fire. Have a clear, step by step sequence of actions, designate the areas of responsibility and ensure that damage is as limited as possible. The most important element to consider when devising your action plan is that during the events of an emergency, your business will usually cease functioning, and it’s your priority to return to the status quo as quickly as possible whilst ensuring that you have complied legally.
Emergency drill
Just as you have a fire drill to ensure that staff know what to do in the event of a fire, so too should you run active technology emergency drills. Having a dry run through your action plan with a full complement of staff will not only help to make the process smoother in real-case scenarios, but it also gives you the opportunity to spot and address any steps that you may have missed. Finally, make sure that your action plan is in clear view at all times, so that should the worst happen you are not rummaging through filing cabinets as you work out what to do next.
The main focus of your action plan should always be your ability to return to running your business. Assess the threats, work out the best responses to the worst-case emergencies, and ensure that you have a fully actionable plan that will result in the least amount of disruption. With the right planning and awareness, even the most potentially damaging emergency can become minimized, and your trading can resume once more.
