The benefit of being in the cloud if a disaster strikes
In the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster, having a cloud-based business continuity and disaster recovery plan dramatically simplifies operations for your company, employees, and clients. Traditional on-site solutions store integral data, software, and more at your physical office. Using the cloud decentralizes your infrastructure, so documents are no longer stored at a physical location.
A cloud-based business continuity and disaster recovery plan allows you and your employees to operate anywhere they have internet. Instead of focusing your preparedness and recovery efforts on your equipment, you can prioritize employee safety without compromising business operations.
“Let’s say you have to evacuate, and some employees go to Atlanta, some go to Birmingham, some go to Nashville, etcetera,” explains Jason Monroe, Solution Consultant at Bit-Wizards. “As long as you’re using something like Office 365, you’re still able to use tools like Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. If you have a cloud server running your QuickBooks accounting software, you can still access it.”
With the cloud, you can continue communicating and coordinating as usual, and you can access the documents and programs you need to access.
“It’s easier for your employees, it’s easier for you as the business owner, and it’s easier for your clients to continue,” says Monroe. “Your clients may never even have to know you’re experiencing a disaster.”
The drawback of not being in the cloud if a disaster strikes
In the event of a disaster, having a lot of physical equipment and a physical server puts your business at a much higher risk of losing data or experiencing downtime.
“Let’s say you have a physical server at your business or a workstation that runs QuickBooks that everyone accesses,” explains Monroe. “A- if it’s underwater, it’s unusable. B- even if you take it with you, your routing, static routes, static IP, and all the networking that goes into ensuring that server or computer is accessible stays with the firewall or router inside your business.”
If you don’t take that router with you, plug it in, and provide the static IP, Monroe says it’s not going to work.
“You’re still protecting your business by taking the server with you, but that’s not going to allow you to continue to work unless you have some highly skilled technical expertise helping you get it back up and running,” says Monroe.
When a disaster strikes, Monroe says it’s like going back to 2010 for businesses that aren’t in the cloud.
“Everybody has smartphones, so you’ll be calling people, texting back and forth, and emailing,” explains Monroe. “Those are really your only true means of communication in a disaster if you’re not in the cloud. You won’t be able to access documents unless the documents are saved on each computer.”
Monroe says this will cause frustration levels to rise for clients, employees, and anyone else who interacts with your business.
How our Managed IT Services can help with cloud-based business continuity and disaster recovery
Bit-Wizards will migrate your technology operations to the cloud, giving you access to everything you need to run your business (i.e., email, file server, accounting software, etc.) as long as you have a reliable internet connection. With decentralization, everything is backed up in the cloud, creating redundancy. Even if the worst-case scenario does happen to your business during a storm, you can rest assured that your important files and documents are safe and sound.
Bit-Wizards will also ensure that communication stays open between you and your employees during a disaster. Our cloud services include Office 365 migration, meaning you and your staff will have access to tools like Outlook and Teams. No matter the situation, you can continue coordinating and collaborating with your employees through emails, instant messaging, phone calls, and video chat.
“We’re going to take care of you,” says Monroe. “We’ll make sure your employees understand the changes that have taken place, show you how everything works, and help you write a disaster recovery plan.” Bit-Wizards wants to ensure that your business is secure and accessible no matter the possible business interruption.
“Our goal is to have you up and running 100% of the time,” says Monroe. “If we can’t have you up and running 100% of the time, we’re going to find an alternative to get you operational.”
From the start of your first consultation to the completion of your infrastructure migration, our Managed IT experts know how to plan and execute a smooth move to the cloud. Learn more about how our team can keep your business operating before, during, and after a hurricane here.