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Mitigating Disaster Recovery To Save Your Bottom Line

Mitigate Disaster Recovery

Being optimistic is a wonderful thing, but being unprepared for the worst case scenario never works out well.

No matter how much you might believe a disaster couldn’t happen to your business, you still need a disaster recovery plan. It’s always best to have a plan in place to minimize potential problems and risks. The better prepared, the less it costs to recover later.

Plus, brainstorming how to mitigate disaster recovery now means you won’t have as much of a crisis on your hand should something happen. It’s all about preparedness.

Create A Disaster Recovery Plan

The first step is to sit down and create a detailed disaster recovery and risk management plan. The CDC even offers a free risk management plan template to help guide you.

These two plans go hand-in-hand. Risk management helps you to identify potential risks. For instance, if your business is near a river, a risk might be flooding. You’d identify the risk, how it would affect your business and potential ways to avoid the risk.

With the disaster recovery plan, you’d detail exactly what steps to take should the worst case scenario happen. This ensures your business gets back on track as quickly as possible.

Consider Areas Of Weakness

You may not want to consider any area of your business as weak. However, to mitigate disaster recovery, you have to know where your weaknesses are. For instance, if an irate, armed ex-employee were to walk in, which areas are most vulnerable? A hallway that’s easily blocked off with no other exits would be an area of weakness.

At this point, it’s time for thinking through your options to better prepare.

Perform Tabletop Exercises

The next step is to perform tabletop exercises and drills. These are both for brainstorming and training. Think of them as a way to practice a crisis situation in a more calm environment.

It’s a chance to think through procedures and assign employees to various roles. Don’t worry if your first plans don’t work. This is the idea – to plan out the safest and most secure ways to avoid and handle disasters.

It’s a good idea to do these occasionally to consider new processes. Listen to any ideas people have. You don’t have to come up with all the plans on your own.

Practice And Train Staff

This is one of the most important steps in mitigating disaster recovery. You must practice with and train your staff. Simply sending them a memo isn’t enough. They’ll read it, file it away and forget all about it should something happen.

Start by training leaders in individual areas. For instance, who’s in charge should the accounting department need to suddenly get out quickly? Which routes should they take and which exits are safest?

Then, it’s all about practicing. Remember the fire drills you did back in school. The same concept applies. More practice and training might seem like a waste, but you’ll be glad you did if a disaster ever does happen. Plus, the training may help employees recognize potential problems before they turn into major crises.

Consider Trained Security Guards

As a final step, consider adding trained security guards to your staff. Security guards are highly trained in how to recognize threats and deal with disasters. When employees are scared and panicked, they may suddenly forget all about their training.

Security guards are able to step up and take charge. They’ll assist employees, guide them to safety and do everything they can to lessen the impact of the disaster.

They’re also ideal to have with you when creating plans and running tabletop exercises. Their training is invaluable to helping you find weaknesses while strengthening your plans.

Besides, they’re always good to have as part of your team. They make your employees feel safer and they help keep your premises far more secure.

Contact BOS Security

Want to know more about how security guards help mitigate disaster recovery? Call us today at 404-793-6965 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Unsure about the security of your own business? Try our free Security Needs Assessment help you determine where your security weak points exist.

Image: Štefan Štefančík

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