As part of our work with clients, we urge them to implement a business continuity and disaster recovery plan (BCDR). These plans help a company quickly adapt to an emergency situation or a fast-changing work environment. This definitely occurred during the coronavirus pandemic and an almost immediate switch to a work-from-home culture.
Whether you had to close your business completely or sent your workforce home to perform their duties, or introduced your staff to PPE, social distancing and continuing to perform – 2020 has brought so many changes. In the midst of those changes, cyberattacks increased exponentially. The reason for the increase in cyberattacks, hacking, ransomware and phishing is that the new work from home crew and your own IT staff weren’t prepared for the type of security necessary to thwart attacks.
Not all businesses were unprepared for the almost immediate changes brought about by the pandemic. Those businesses that had a BCDR in place were able to pivot and perhaps even protect its data from a potential attack.
How Well Did Your BCDR Work During Pandemic?
In a recent survey it was found that close to 70% of businesses who responded said their BCDR protected them. Their BCDR had a contingency plan in place that prepared for a work from home situation for staffers. Their BCDR accounted for unique threats and had protections in place for the mitigation, control and removal of cyber threats and recovery from one if it occurs.
Of the 70% of respondents to the survey it was discovered:
- Close to 40% of those with a BCDR found it “very useful”
- Close to 30% said it was “quite useful”
The respondents indicated that the planning they’d put into their business continuity plan gave them the direction and processes necessary to assess the pandemic threat, the potential impact to business operations and ways in which to pivot.
In some cases, business owners explained because they had a BCDR in place, they were prepared and had the software and hardware necessary to equip a work from home staff. These businesses didn’t have to scramble to purchase and equip staff with video conferencing software, laptops and a VPN to access the company server.
While your BCDR may not include the word “pandemic” it may have performed as you’d hoped when the time came to work from home and continue to serve clients without an interruption in service. Many BCDRs take into consideration, “what will we do and how will we work if we cannot get into the office to access our equipment” in those cases, the pandemic was essentially prepared for.
How resilient was your business? Did your business continuity and disaster recovery plan help you continue business uninterrupted? Do you need to re-work the BCDR and include the steps you’ve taken to address the changes the pandemic has brought about?
It is not too late to either write a new business continuity and disaster recovery plan nor is it too late to revamp, rework and reword the current BCDR. We don’t know that the pandemic is going away in 2021. We have also heard that many businesses will continue with their remote workforces — they have found employees are happier and more productive when they wok from home.
WareGeeks Solutions is a Roselle, New Jersey-based complete IT consultant and solutions provider. We specialize in 360 Protect Data Now managed services, Data Protection, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (#BCDR). We work with law firms, real estate and property management professionals and in the healthcare industry. If you have IT or security questions contact Seth at WareGeeks Solutions. For information or a consultation, call (877) 653-7146, or email us at info@waregeeks.com. www.waregeeks.com