Disaster Recovery for the Remote Workforce

Many business owners are settling into the reality of relying on a remote workforce for the foreseeable future. But finding your groove can quickly come to a screeching halt if you haven't updated your Backup & Disaster Recovery Plan (BDR) to reflect the changes in your operational setup. Here, we'll detail three of the most important steps you can take to ensure your business continuity plans are cohesive, even when your workforce is spread out.

Plan for Succession

When everyone was working under one roof, your team hoped that they could rely on those in charge to guide the group and quickly organize a response to any disaster scenario. But with everyone now using their own individual hardware and working from home, you are far more likely to have isolated issues with network access or personal health that can leave your workforce scrambling. To avoid letting a key team member's connectivity issue crush productivity, you must create clear succession strategies. These should be made to allow interchangeable and cross-trained employees to slide into each other's clearly defined roles without massive changes to your business's day-to-day functions. Consider what happens if your most technologically savvy or senior team members are unreachable. Can the rest of your staff fill the void?

Use the Cloud

Your personnel have dispersed, but has your data done the same? Cloud services are currently helping eliminate the need for centralized physical data centers. And even better, many cloud services have multiple data centers in several geographic locations to ensure business continuity in the face of any large-scale disruptions. They are allowing employees to effectively fill in for each other since essential documents and accounts are not centrally located on one device or in somebody's office. For the modern business, the cloud is a crucial tool that can help alleviate the physical burden of maintaining infrastructure, allow you to scale as you see fit, and ultimately provide a more secure data storage option for remote working staff.

Test and Update Your Plan

Another important aspect of having a BDR in place is ongoing testing to help your team if/when problems arise. "Tabletop exercises" where you simulate different emergency scenarios should be done, at the very least, annually. When training and testing your employees, make sure to vary the situations and cross-train team members, so everyone understands the plan. Remember, the more you test, the more everyone is ready to respond at the drop of a hat.

It can be tough keeping track of all the moving pieces involved in your business when they are no longer physically sitting in front of you every day. Additionally, as the Coronavirus pandemic has made clear, companies absolutely must remain flexible and fully prepared for any scenario in the age of hyper-connectivity. That's why many businesses are adding the expertise of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) like Capstone Works to manage their IT. At Capstone Works, we have the years of experience and IT know-how to put your mind at ease and let you focus on your bottom line. Contact us today to find out more.