The MegaPath Connectivity Blog

Snow plow by Petr Kratochvil

There is word of another Winter Storm heading for the middle of the country, with this article saying that all my friends back in Maryland could be looking at another 12″ to 20″ inches of the white stuff.  While weary of all the snow this winter, the wise among them are still working away.  This is because they developed a  business continuity plan, and took advantage of broadband technologies to stay open, and keep their business going, even when their staff can’t get into the office. 

When Mother Nature decides to blanket a few states with snow and ice, the end result can be Snow Days, where liberal leave policies need to go into effect.  But just because you can’t get out of the house doesn’t mean you can’t make use of a Virtual Private Network to get needed work done.  So, as another blizzard seems to be in the making, I would propose that this is a great time to look into teleworking and other business continuity options that your business can implement to keep connected, even when you can’t get the car out of your driveway (unless your car happens to be a snow plow).

It the time of year when we start to see more and more lists.  Santa is finalizing the naughty and nice list, people will be working on lists of top songs and movies of the year, and children are preparing lists of what presents they would like to receive this holiday season.  If you run a business, I can think of one very important list you should take a look at, and that is the MegaPath Business Continuity Planning checklist. 

Businesses need to be ready to handle any contingency that could affect their continuity, especially at this time of year, when so much business is transacted.  Whether the issue is the H1N1 virus, a bridge disrupting your employees ability to get to work, or a natural disaster that effects a large geographic area, you need to plan ahead so that you know you can keep in contact with your partners, suppliers and customers no matter what.

To help you be ready, the friendly business continuity experts here are at MegaPath have put together the following list, which you can use to make sure you are ready to keep operating, no matter what.

MegaPath’s Business Continuity Planning Checklist

Designate a team: An effective business continuity plan should involve input from Management, the Chief Security Officer, the IT department, Web developer and Human Resources. These key departments have the ability to ensure the company runs smoothly in times of crisis, while taking into account the needs of their employees. 

Identify key personnel: Determine which executives and employees are critical to operating the business (and supporting customers) that need to have access to key systems and information at all time. A business continuity plan must ensure these employees receive the highest levels of support, even during the most disruptive events.

Plan for spikes: Before an emergency occurs, businesses need to plan ahead for increased network bandwidth and secured remote access requirements. Implementing scalable solutions will enable organizations to add increased user licenses to the VPN and Internet connections in real-time.

Choose a flexible secure communications solution: There are many to choose from, but a SSL VPN is one of the leading solutions to provide flexible, remote access, which is essential to any business continuity plan. This technology enables access – via a Web browser – to sensitive corporate and customer data that exists on an enterprise network from remote locations. The SSL solution should be redundant and scalable to account for the increased spike in traffic, as well as integrated into the overall Disaster Recovery plan. 

Create a single entry point:  Create a business continuity portal for employees and partners. If the company has an Intranet, this site becomes command central from which employees can access information – HR policies, emergency contacts and a “click here to access SSL VPN” feature. As this Intranet would become the main source of information, it is vital to ensure that it is fast and reliable for employees no matter where they are located.

Coordinate a secondary back-up site: Should the primary site be unavailable, companies should have a real-time mirror of data housed at a secure facility. If configured correctly, organization’s can provide an automatic failover between locations, so that any forwarding is seamless to employees as they conduct business with no impact to productivity.

Replicate non-real time data: In the event that the secondary site is unavailable, organizations should plan for multiple layers of failover.  If users cannot access real-time data via the back-up location, a third- tier facility with updates, but not real-time data, can provide most of the necessary tools to keep the business operational until the secondary facilities come back online.

Ensure access from any device: With mobile devices and air cards now permeating the executive suite and key employees, IT departments can leverage these tools to ensure complete connectivity in times of emergencies. However, organizations must first conduct a thorough review of remote access policies in order to protect the data these devices are accessing.

Pre-arrange “on-the-fly” meeting capabilities: In the event of an office closure, employees still need to communicate internally or with external parties (i.e. suppliers, customers). Providing Web and audio conferencing to remote locations and offsite workers keeps the communication lines open, especially with those unaffected by the office closure.

Review number of sites and VPN gateways: Businesses need to have multiple channels for employees to gain access in case of fail over. Conducting a yearly audit will provide a complete picture of your network and the ability to address problem areas before a disaster strikes.

Test, test and retest:Typically, companies today test their Disaster Recovery facility (ies) and remote access policies about once a year. These “fire drills’ enable companies to see how the current system is working, especially when employees are accessing information from remote locations (i.e. from home, a relative’s house, and hotel). Once complete, those in Management, IT and Human Resources can modify their business continuity plan accordingly.

I know some people in the San Francisco Bay Area who are glad they can telecommute to work right now.  With an event like the closing of the San Francisco-Oakland bridge, we are all reminded that things beyond our control can sometimes come about that keep us out of the office.

With a solution from the the right partner, this doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t keep working.  Through telecommuting, you can still keep in touch with your team, your customers and your partners, even when you can’t drive across the bay.

In today’s business world, staying well connected is critical to the success of most enterprises, small or large.  The loss of connectivity for a mission critical application can be very costly, and is to be avoided, and businesses are advised to do what they can to maximize uptime.  For this reason, it is always good to have a backup plan.

In the simplest terms, this means that your business, small or large, located in a single store or office, or located in thousands of locations across the country, should look into a redundant network connection.  There are many options available to businesses today to make sure they stay connected to their customers, suppliers and partners, allowing you to choose the redundant connectivity with the proper bandwidth and cost to meet your needs.

If your store is connected with a DSL line, you should consider purchasing a dial backup plan, to keep those transactions moving in times when broadband connectivity goes down.  If your small business is making use of a T1 line, you could consider also having a DSL or Cable Internet connection available to supply business continuity in the event of an outage.  And, of course, there is always wireless access, for a very redundant connection that will stay up even if the local wireline network is physically cut.

The costs of these solutions are likely lower than you think, and can provide vital communications continuity, allowing revenue to flow into your business, even if a construction crew with a backhoe takes out some conduits while repairing a street.

Being offline these days can be very costly, so having that backup connection just makes good sense.