IT Continuity Planning

The increasing number of threats in today’s business environment means that companies need to take reasonable measures to ensure that their business can continue to operate in the event of an incident such as a flood, fire or major IT failure.

The British Government recommends that all organisations should prepare a Business Continuity Plan that identifies possible events that may affect the running of a business and then implement solutions to ensure that in the event of a major incident, the business can carry on as usual.

It is a worrying fact that businesses that have experienced major disruptions to their day-to-day operations have suffered severely, this is due to either little or no consideration to the affect a disaster may have. www.londonprepared.gov.uk state that 80% of businesses affected by a major incident close within two years and 90% of businesses that lose data from a disaster are forced to close within 18 months.

ramsac can help to develop a plan for ensuring that in the event of disaster, you can quickly and efficiently get your IT infrastructure back up and running. IT Continuity Planning does not end with the taking home of a daily back up tape! You need to consider how you would quickly replace hardware, how you would gather the information required to allow an IT consultant to rebuild that hardware, what the priorities would be in terms of who needs to be set up to work, what information is required and how you are to maintain communication with your customers and suppliers.

We also consider who your key IT suppliers are (for example your Internet Service Provider, Hosting Company and Telecom's Provider) and how you would contact them in an emergency, including details of your passwords and account numbers to access information. We look at how your data is backed up and stored off site (in case your whole building is destroyed) what would happen if any of your key IT people were to be out of action as a result of the incident.

Our consultants will prepare a detailed information document specific to your organisation, and then help to train your own staff on its use and implementation procedures. We also work in conjunction with the people involved in the business wide continuity plan, to ensure that the IT Plan is successfully implemented and tested alongside the other areas of your organisations emergency procedures.