FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With predictions of 15 named storms forming in the Atlantic basin between June 1st and November 30th, Florida businesses are being encouraged to batten down the hatches and have a continuity plan in place. But 1Vault Networks wonders if they are listening... Gartner®, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, estimates that only 35 percent of small to mid-sized businesses have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place, and an even smaller percent have crisis management, contingency, business recovery and business resumption plans. “Too many businesses in Florida are simply not prepared to survive a disaster,” said Helene Wetherington, AICP, CEM, Director of Emergency Management Services for Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Calvin, Giordano & Associates. A former Assistant Director of Emergency Management for Palm Beach County, Wetherington said an estimated 75 percent of companies without a business continuity plan would fail within three years of a disaster. “Complacency about disaster preparedness can kill your business,” she added. The 2008 forecast gives 70 percent odds a hurricane will hit West Florida and 60 percent odds storms will strike the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama coast and the U.S. east coast. “That’s a recipe for a catastrophe and should make any chairman, president, CEO, CIO, CFO and Board Director reassess their planning if they haven’t already done so,” opined Jim Thomas, founder and CEO of 1Vault Networks (www.1Vault.net), a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company offering businesses colocation, disaster recovery and hosted IT servers. For Thomas, a 25-year veteran of the telecommunications industry, the reality for inaction “certainly will result in the loss of revenue, loss of customers and most probably the loss of the business.” Is this only an issue affecting larger businesses? According to the Florida Division of Emergency Management’s FloridaDisaster.org website, which helps businesses in disaster planning, almost 40 percent of small businesses that close due to a disaster event never reopen. Many companies choose Florida as their base of operations because of the unique combination of a skilled workforce, booming business economy and endless recreational and arts and entertainment options. However, because Florida is located in the North Atlantic Hurricane zone, doing business there requires a well thought out business continuity plan. Having a good plan means including contingencies for weather and other more common business risks, such as fire, flood and power outages—all of which can leave a business disconnected from the world and losing money. For the majority of companies, staying in business during any major event means protecting its information, as a business cannot run for long if it loses or is disconnected from its data systems for any length of time. This makes data protection a top priority in any business continuity plan. Data protection for businesses can be as simple as backing up the data to an off-site data storage facility at regular intervals, to housing critical IT infrastructure in a weather hardened colocation facility capable of remaining online even during a Category 5 hurricane. A colocation center or carrier hotel is a secure physical site or building where data communications media converge and are interconnected. A colocation data center services multiple customers, allowing each to locate network, server and storage equipment and interconnect to a variety of telecommunications and other network service providers. These carrier hotels can provide colocation on a massive scale, offering various services to customers ranging from modest-sized racks to dedicated rooms or groups of rooms. Some sites, such as 1Vault Networks, offer hardware and software installation, maintenance, managed and unmanaged servers and suites and seats where businesses can relocate temporarily to ensure continuity to customers in spite of outside conditions. 1Vault Networks recommends a Business Survival Guide should include the following Check List: 1. Outline a Business Continuity Plan. 2. Carefully audit the plan to ensure all processes are covered, including data protection, business continuity, human resource coordination, firewalls and self-defending networks, e-mail communications, recovery and restoration, and most importantly coordinated management of all of the above. 3. Through your internal IT staff, coordinate a seamless operational plan working with a SAS 70 Certified colocation/disaster recovery partner. 4. Anticipate and budget for all related costs. Remember, many businesses are obligated to certain levels of performance through Service Level Agreements (SLAs). 5. Dry run a full test of your plan so there are no surprises.
