Prepare Your Biz for Disaster
Natural disasters have been front-page news around the world this spring, and are being chalked up as the deadliest to date. Yet, four out of 10 business professionals admit to not being prepared for a disaster.
A new national survey of 5,000 business professionals, conducted by Office Depot, sought answers. The survey found that unprepared business professionals say readiness-planning isn’t a priority, that it’s too expensive and that they don’t know how to adequately prepare.
“What’s most alarming about the survey findings is that the prevailing attitudes are steeped in misperceptions,” says Jon Toigo, a disaster-recovery expert based in Tampa, Florida who works with Office Depot to help educate small businesses about important preparedness measures.
“A $1 piece of media, like a CD-R, to store important data such as key customer lists, vendor details and presentations, could make a big difference in being able to keep your business running. And it doesn’t take but minutes to back up your data on a regular basis.”
According to Toigo, the key to effective planning is to protect your most valuable assets: your people and your data. When developing your preparedness plan, Toigo recommends small-business owners build solid contact lists, including at least five different forms of contact per employee.
As for data, he recommends backing up the data your business can’t live without and moving it off-site. For larger storage needs, Toigo suggests products that allow you to grab your data and go, like the Ativa 4GB Flash Drive and the Maxtor External Hard Drive.
Photo by jeti87.
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