As we’ve already discovered, this year has been an anomaly in terms of impact on SMBs and workflow. Not only has COVID-19 sent profit margins spiraling down the drain, but it has also forced a great portion of our nation’s businesses to rapidly build work-from-home infrastructure for employees.
Moreover, as if the C19 outbreak wasn’t enough, according to top hurricane experts from Colorado State University, “the 2020 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have above-normal activity." They are predicting six hurricanes for the season (June 1st to November 1st), four of which are expected to be “major” hurricanes.
With such high activity being predicted for areas like Florida and the east coast, it is even more important that local businesses employ MSPs and other remote systems. Most providers will be able to consult with you about what kind of service you need for your business, should you decide to make the switch before hurricane season sets in. Aside from connecting with an MSP, what can you do to prepare your business ahead of time?
Below are some high-level tips on how to prepare, and remember, we’re always only an email away. You can reach us at contact@source1solutions.com.
Contact
During outages, downtime is scary for everyone; get in touch with your MSP before a big storm hits to let them know how they can reach you. Furthermore, keep all of your clients’ contact information stored in separate locations. We recommend that you always keep a cloud copy, a hardware copy, and a paper copy of your customers’ contact information. This way, in the event of a disaster on your end, you’ll still be able to reach out and talk with your customers and your MSP.
VOIP
If your employees are forced out of the main office, much like many companies during this COVID-19 outbreak, they’ll need a way to make and receive calls. While we’re all pretty familiar with this process after the recent call for shifts to working from home, it’s best to keep your procedures and products for this task up to date at your technician level. Reevaluate the best solution with your MSP, and make sure they are available to offer support for these systems.
Back it Up
This might go without saying, but backups are imperative during a natural disaster. Not only should you make sure that your backup systems are running and up to date, but you may also wish to increase the frequency of essential backups (include configurations, too) until hurricane season has run its course. In addition to these considerations, take inventory of your hardware setup on-site. If parts get damaged due to water or wind destruction, having the information on how to arrange insurance replacement will be paramount.
Safeguard
While your business can’t necessarily prevent all hardware from every kind of damage, you may wish to consider moving critical hardware into safer locations. Some items can be placed in water-tight containers, while others can be positioned in closets off the ground. The more you safeguard your technology now, the less downtime you can expect during post-storm repair.
Have a Plan
Above all, talk with your MSP extensively about a specific emergency plan prior to the beginning of 2020’s hurricane season. Your business is unique with different needs and demands for the MSP. Consider how things will need to change, how quickly, for how many individuals as you work together to solidify a plan for the moment your business is affected.