Flood. Power outage. Cyberattack. Supply chain failure or a disgruntled employee. Disruptions to your business can happen at any moment causing unplanned downtime.

Downtime

In IT, a disaster can be any unexpected problem that results in an interruption or failure in a key system or network. These issues can be caused by natural disasters (i.e. fire, earthquake, hurricane…), technology crashes, malicious cyber acts, or simple human error.

Downtime can bring operations to a halt while IT issues are being repaired. IT downtime can cost a small business anywhere from $8,000 to $74,000 per hour. While system downtime can cause immediate pain in the form of lost time, money, productivity, and opportunities, it can cause more harmful long-term damage to a company’s brand and reputation.

Business Continuity

Business continuity (BC) refers to maintaining business functions or quickly resuming them in the event of a major disruption, whether caused by a fire, flood, or malicious attack by cybercriminals. Businesses need continuity to ensure operations can continue with as little disruption as possible, avoiding the impacts of downtime, such as lost productivity and revenue.

Business continuity is a proactive way of looking at disaster preparedness. With the proper tools and procedures in place, businesses can be assured that they will remain functional during a disaster scenario, large or small. 

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Video: Not All Business Continuity Solutions are Created Equal

Business continuity, in the context of data backup, means that in the event of a disaster, cyberattack, human error, etc., a business will never lose access to its critical data and applications.

Aside from saving your business from doomsday scenarios, improving business continuity, and having worry-free, IT can help your business in other helpful ways.

Business Continuity Increases Employee Productivity

A study from the University of California Irvine shows that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task after a minor disruption at work. This disruption could be as simple as the server being down for a few minutes to losing days’ worth of work.

And let’s not forget the undo stress and lack of motivation incurred by an employee who has to redo a task all over again due to loss of work.  With proper business continuity measures, you can decrease idle sitting time at desks while boosting morale and productivity.

Business Continuity Improves Customer Experience

There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to access a business because critical services are down preventing ready-to-buy customers from making purchases. If systems are down, they may not be able to reach technical support or contact customer service. Nobody wants that. A clear business continuity plan can prevent downtime and increase brand loyalty by providing a stellar customer experience.

Video: Backup vs. Business Continuity

Business Continuity Saves Money and Increases Overall Business Efficiency

If you’re not convinced of how important business continuity is, think about how much money your business can save by not having to waste hours trying to retrieve lost files or loss of communication via email between employees and customers. The list of benefits goes on.

QUICK TIP: Backup your network on the cloud as frequently as possible to protect your data in case of a possible disaster that could destroy any hardware.

Interested in learning more about Business Continuity for your business? Complete this short form. 

Teknologize is a SOC 2 certified, Professional Technology Services company with clients throughout the Pacific Northwest. We have offices located in:

• Tri-Cities, Washington 509.396.6640
• Yakima, Washington 509.396.6640
• Bend, Oregon 541.848.6072

Questions about your IT or Cybersecurity? Give us a call today!