disaster plan for business

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Best Tips for Creating Your Business’s Disaster Plan

Table of Contents

You never want to imagine the worst happening to your business – but what if it does? A natural disaster may seem unthinkable, but as a business owner, thinking about the impacts of one needs to be part of your job. Help secure your company’s future by creating business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

What are business continuity plans and disaster recovery plans?

While there are differences between a business continuity plan (BCP) and a disaster recovery plan (DRP), some companies merge them into one plan.

“A business continuity plan is a defined, documented strategy designed to help business owners and their employees prepare for any event that may disrupt business operations, including natural disasters , single-building fires or floods, supplier outages, and more,” said Mick Whittemore, vice president of IT at Paychex.

A DRP, sometimes referred to as a disaster recovery policy, describes how to resume business operations quickly and is typically applied to details-level planning of an organization’s IT infrastructure and applications. The DRP should allow your IT team to recover enough data and system functionality to operate the business again.

These plans apply to both physical disasters, such as weather events, and virtual ones, like cyberattacks. In either instance, your business needs to be equipped to minimize the consequences.

Do you need both a BCP and DRP?

To ensure your business can continue operating after a disaster, you need both a BCP and DRP. Your BCP and DRP work together to make sure all potential vulnerabilities are addressed so you can maintain continuity by keeping unaffected operations going while working on recovering to restore affected ones.

“With the proper planning, the loss can be a bit less devastating, and in some cases, you could even prevent certain damaging situations from happening,” said Jay Shelton, senior vice president of executive risk at Assurance. “A disaster restoration and business continuity plan can significantly reduce the effects of a loss.”

Why are disaster recovery plans important?

You can’t always avoid disasters, but you can prepare for them. Disaster recovery plans help recover what is lost, whether that is data from a cloud data center, physical property (e.g., office space in a hurricane) or something else.

Consider this scenario: A hurricane hits your region, flooding your data center. How will you get operations back up and running in a timely manner? What if you can’t? The longer your business is out of commission, the harder it will be for your company to survive. A thorough disaster recovery plan properly executed can mitigate the damage. Such a plan may not only save you money but also help ensure your company’s reputation emerges from the disaster unscathed.

How do you create a disaster recovery plan?

To create a disaster recovery plan, you first need to decide what approach or strategy will form the framework of your policy.

• Data center disaster recovery: With this approach, your business’s data is stored onsite. Your DRP should specify what the critical assets are and ensure there are redundancies in place (e.g., generators) to protect your company’s data.
• Cloud-based disaster recovery: Here, your company’s data is stored in an offsite location where it is not vulnerable to damage or loss.
• Virtualization disaster recovery: Virtualization creates a virtual version of IT resources (e.g., your servers, applications and networks), which are stored with a host. Virtualization cuts the time in performing a full restoration of your system. In the event of a fire, for example, you wouldn’t need to reconstruct a server.
• Disaster recovery as a service: With this method, providers can host and run a secondary hot site (a type of backup) for your data. In addition, they can rebuild and ship servers to your business.

Please note that due to the complexity of disaster planning, our advice is for small and midsize businesses only. If you work for a big company that has a lot of moving parts, we recommend contacting a disaster recovery specialist.

What’s included in a disaster recovery plan?

Once you’ve decided on your disaster recovery plan’s approach, begin tackling the specific components to build the plan. A good DRP should include the following elements.

A planning team: Establish a planning team of employees or volunteers who are responsible for the development of the plan.

A leadership execution team: Throughout your plan, specify who is responsible for executing the plan and assign a lead. In some cases, the entire company will be accountable, but to keep execution organized, always have a disaster recovery plan lead.

Goals and objectives: Identify goals and objectives for what your plan will accomplish. Establish answers to questions like, “Where do we relocate?” and “Whom should I partner with?” Your primary goal should be to have a solution for the issue.

Capabilities and hazards: Gather information about current capabilities and possible hazards and emergencies. Consider what the worst-case scenario would be. Also, consider something most businesses don’t think about – the recovery point objective, or RPO. RPO is the age of the files that need to be recovered from backup storage so your operations can continue as usual. The age of your files will affect your data backup strategy. Due to the complexity of this subject, consult an IT expert for assistance.

Action plans: Each type of possible disaster (such as fire, flood, earthquake or hacking) should have its own action plan. Each action plan should list the procedures to follow. In addition to an action plan, it’s essential to have a long-term recovery plan in place.

Written documentation: Include backup protocols and systems to ensure everyone on your team knows what needs to be done and can follow the outlined plan. Address the below questions so your plan is simple and easy to follow:

• Who are the team members responsible?
• What is the specific type of threat?
• What is the likelihood of it happening?
• What impact would it have on the business?
• What are the recovery objectives?
• What are the required response steps?
• What recovery and repair might be required?
• What follow-up is required?

Employee training: All staff members, from management to maintenance, should understand your company’s disaster recovery plan. Integrate plans into company operations and employee trainings.

Testing and re-evaluation: Your disaster recovery plan is not complete after you create the initial plan. Testing and re-evaluation are critical parts of ensuring your policy will be effective. See where there is room for improvement, then weigh different plans of action to ensure disasters are handled in the best way possible.

How and when should employees be trained for disaster recovery?

Employee knowledge is integral to creating a successful business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan.

“Employees need to be informed about their roles and responsibilities in support of any recovery effort,” said Whittemore. “They should be trained when the BCP is first developed and then refreshed every year as the document is updated.” 

Many companies use simulation exercises or drills to implement parts of the plan to ensure critical infrastructure is working. E-learning tools can be helpful as well, but the best practice is to simulate the plan at least once a year.

While existing employees benefit from training at the time the plan is created and during regular simulations, incoming employees need to be informed about the process too. New hires should be trained on the plan once they’re onboarded. You can even make it part of your onboarding checklist .

What happens if your disaster recovery plan goes wrong or isn’t followed?

If your disaster recovery efforts don’t go according to plan, your company could immediately lose money. It could keep losing money until the disaster is resolved – or your business is forced into bankruptcy. 

For example, let’s say you haven’t taken advantage of quick cybersecurity tips and fall victim to a cyberattack. This would be a digital and financial disaster: According to IBM , the average cost of a data breach in 2022 is $4.35 million. With a disaster recovery plan in place, you would quickly reactivate your IT systems and avoid or minimize losses. 

But without a disaster recovery plan – or with a team that doesn’t follow it or carry it out correctly – you could be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in the hole. The longer you remain unable to provide your services, the more your customers will seek them elsewhere. That long-term revenue and customer loyalty loss can be hard to recoup.

Creating a DRP and BCP to keep your business stable

A disaster can happen at any time, especially when you’re not expecting it. When you create a disaster recovery plan and business recovery plan and train your team on them, you lessen the chances of disasters sidelining your business. It’s frustrating not to know when these disasters might be coming and how bad they’ll be. Preparing before there’s even a hint of a threat can help you keep the worst outcomes at bay. 

Max Freedman contributed to the writing and reporting in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. 

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• For Businesses

Prepare My Business for an Emergency

Businesses can do much to prepare for the impact of the many hazards they face in today’s world including natural hazards, human-caused hazards or technology related hazards.

• Natural hazards could be a flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake or a widespread serious illness such as the H1N1 flu virus pandemic.
• Human-caused hazards include accidents, acts of violence by people and acts of terrorism.
• Examples of technology-related hazards are the failure or malfunction of systems, equipment or software.

DHS/FEMA sponsors a resource called “Ready Business” to assist businesses in developing a preparedness program by providing tools to create a plan that addresses the impact of many hazards. The direction recommended is to adopt a standard for Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs called an “all hazards approach.”

Steps to Create a Business Preparedness Program

To develop an “all hazards approach,” DHS has adopted National Fire Protection Association 1600 (NFPA 1600) as the American National Standard for developing a preparedness program.

There are five steps toward creating a business preparedness program:

1. Program Management

• Organize, develop and administer your preparedness program
• Identify regulations that establish minimum requirements for your program

2. Planning

• Gather information about hazards and assess risks
• Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)
• Examine ways to prevent hazards and reduce risks

3. Implementation

Write a preparedness plan addressing:

• Resource management
• Emergency response
• Crisis communications
• Business continuity
• Information technology
• Employee assistance
• Incident management

4. Testing and Exercises

• Test and evaluate your plan
• Define different types of exercises
• Learn how to conduct exercises
• Use exercise results to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan

5. Program Improvement

• Identify when the preparedness program needs to be reviewed
• Discover methods to evaluate the preparedness program
• Utilize the review to make necessary changes and plan improvements
• How Do I - For Businesses
• Preparedness

Small Business Preparedness

To minimize the impact of disasters on employees, property, and operations, businesses must make the right preparations. These include: creating a disaster plan, identifying priorities, training employees on emergency preparedness, and reviewing the business’ insurance coverage. Here are resources to help prepare for disasters and organize your response.

Quick Guide: Small Business Preparedness

January 01, 2015

Top 10 Preparedness Tips

• Organize a staff team to create your plan.
• Gather critical documents and information needed for decision making.
• Identify and prioritize the company’s most important operations and processes.
• Identify hazards and potential disruptions to your operations.
• Keep it simple: design a plan that is easy to understand and implement. .
• Create a communications strategy and plan to use it post emergency. Maintain an up-to-date emergency contact list for employees, vendors, suppliers, and other key stakeholders.
• Recruit and train employee volunteers that can effectively manage the response.
• Back up and store vital records and data at an off-site location.
• Take action to mitigate the potential impact of a disaster on equipment, buildings, facilities, inventory, and storage. Consider your insurance options and whether to purchase a generator.
• Exercise, test, and update your plan at least annually.

Only 33% of small businesses have business interruption insurance. (National Association of Insurance Commissioners)

• Top 20 Preparedness Tips for Businesses  (DRB Toolkit) – Covers what you need to do before, during and after with tips on how to protect everything from your employees to the company brand.
• Are You Prepared? How to Make a Disaster Recovery Plan For Your Business  – A 10-step guide to creating a disaster recovery plan.
• 7 Steps You Need to Take Before Disaster Strikes  (AmEx) – Provides simple, straight-forward steps derived from the response to Hurricane Sandy and other disasters.
• Business Interruption Preparedness/Recovery – Five steps to ensuring business continuity during a disruption.
• How Small Businesses Should Plan for Disasters – Case studies on disaster response from Hurricane Sandy.

“Small businesses are at particular risk as they often lack the resources to survive a catastrophic event. And when small businesses are unable to rebuild, the entire community continues to suffer. Jobs are lost, neighborhoods decline, and individuals and families endure further hardships.” ~United Way, Larimer County (CO) after 2013 floods

Preparedness Guides

• 7 Steps to an Earthquake Resilient Business  – Focused on earthquake recovery, this booklet explains what businesses can do before, during, and after disaster.
• Preparedness Planning for Your Business  (FEMA) – Website and tools for assessing, planning, responding, and improving future readiness.
• American Red Cross Ready Rating Assessment  – A program that provides a 123-question assessment to help businesses identify gaps and strengths and where they should focus attention.
• Disaster Recovery and Continuity Guide – Guide to prepare and assist businesses affected by a disaster.

Checklists—General

• Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Small Businesses  (Red Cross) – 3-step preparedness checklist.
• IOWA Business Emergency Preparedness Plan  – Checklist with examples of best practices for creating a preparedness plan.
• Business Disaster Planning Checklist – Useful list to help business plan ahead before a disaster.  
• Minimizing the Risks to Your Business Using Security Measures and Disaster Planning  – Guide to securing business property following a disaster.

Checklists—By Hazard

• Prepare for a hurricane’s effect on your business, employees and community  (SBA/Agility) – Guide to preparing for a hurricane.
• Tornado Preparedness Checklist  (SCORE) – Guide to preparing for a tornado.
• Tornado Preparedness and Response  (OSHA) – Planning and employee training guide for tornado preparation.
• Flood Preparedness Checklist  (SCORE) – Guide to preparing for a flood.
• Earthquake Preparedness Checklist  (SCORE) – Guide to preparing for an earthquake.
• Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety – Step-by-step guide to earthquake preparation.

Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

• Planning for Business Continuity after a Disaster  (IRS) – Short video giving four key areas for businesses to focus on when planning.  
• DRB Toolkit © (Disaster Resistant Business Toolkit) – Step-by-step, fully customizable planning tool guides to help all types of businesses build a disaster plan, train employees, run exercises, and prepare operations. Provides tools, templates, and videos for beginners and experienced planners alike. Use discount code: USChamber
• Planning and Responding to Workplace Emergencies  (OSHA) – Factsheet of requirements and tips for emergency response and protecting employees.
• Preparing Your Business for the Unthinkable  (Red Cross) – Short guide with helpful suggestions to get started.
• 2011 Crisis Preparedness Study  – Slideshow for businesses about the importance of Business Continuity Planning.
• Preparing for Disasters (IRS) – Short video about how to protect tax and banking information following a disaster.
• Preparing for a Disaster (Taxpayers and Businesses) – Tips for safeguarding documents and tracking valuables after a disaster. Includes a Loss Workbook tool from the IRS.
• Being Prepared: Is Your Business Ready for a Disaster? – Slideshow of information about disaster recovery; includes information on government assistance, statistics about business recovery, and assistance for small businesses.

71% of small businesses say they are “very dependent” on 1 or 2 key people, but only 22% have “Key Person Insurance” ~National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)

Insurance is not a tax; it is a risk management tool critical for all businesses. It can reduce the financial impact of accidents, fires, and other unplanned disruptions. Insurance protects businesses from events out of their control and improves chances for survival. Here are some tips to keep your business running smoothly:

• Review your coverage and design an insurance program that fits your business and risks. Bring in an insurance professional to explain different types of available coverage. Keep in mind that some policies may not need to cover every aspect of the business but simply the most critical elements that you need to remain operational. Find the right balance.
• When disaster strikes, file a claim as soon as possible. To do so, plan ahead for what items you will be required to provide so you do not miss an important step in the process. Take pre-disaster photos of your business and equipment. After an event occurs, document damage with photos or videos.

Review Your Coverage

• What Types of Insurance Should a Small Business Consider?  – Discusses everything you need to know how to pick the right coverage for your business.
• Types of Business Insurance  (SBA) – The 5 basic types of insurance that businesses need to consider.  
• Insurance is Financial Risk Mitigation  (FEMA) - Information on National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); includes resources such as a link to an insurance coverage review  form .
• Earthquake Basics Insurance – Details insurance options available for businesses facing the threat of an earthquake.
• How to Develop a Small Business Disaster Recovery Plan – Overview of helpful insurance plans for small businesses. 

Filing a Claim

• Let Us Help Guide You Through Your Business Insurance Claims  – Checklist to assist with filing a claim.   
• After A Loss: Filing Your Business Insurance Claim  – List of steps to take after filing an insurance claim.
• Disaster Resource Guide for Small Businesses  – Step-by-step guide to filing a claim. (Ignore Missouri specific information) 
• Important Insurance Lessons from Superstorm Sandy  – Helpful tips on working with insurance companies during the claims process. 

Communicating with Employees, Suppliers, and Customers

During disasters, communication is one of the most needed activities to inform employees and suppliers, answer customer questions, reduce rumors, and provide expectations to the public. It is also one of the first systems to break or experience challenges.

To plan for potential business interruptions and to create a crisis communication strategy as part of your larger Business Continuity Plan. Here are some tips:

• Keep your Emergency Contact List updated with every possible mode to reach each person (phone: work, home, cell, significant other’s cell; email: work, personal, alternate; family contact; evacuation plan and contact; social media: Facebook, Twitter; etc.)
• Consider an alert mechanism that can keep your employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, and stakeholders informed and regularly updated in multiple ways (e.g. email, text messages). Test regularly.
• Use existing social media platforms to communicate online (e.g. Facebook, Twitter).
• Have procedures to work with the media following a crisis.
• Identify a spokesperson to be the voice of your company in talking with the media.
• Developing messaging and talking points specific to their intended audience (e.g. employees, vendors, community members).
• Communicate accurately and often with customers to keep them informed of any delays in delivery, alternatives, expectations, and any compensation.
• Monitor outside communications to determine what is working well and areas to improve your communication strategy.
• Update the communications strategy often. Train employees and provide new hires with the communications strategy.

Crisis Communication Planning

• Is Your Company Prepared to Respond after a Disaster?  (SBA) - Tips to get your company’s crisis communications plan started.
• Crisis Communications  – (SBA/Agility) Checklist for developing a crisis communications plan with recommendations for during and after an emergency.
• Disaster Recovery: Developing the Perfect Communications Plan for Your Business  – Guide to completing the Crisis Communications checklist.
• Crisis Communications Plan  (FEMA) – Background information about Crisis Communications Plans and their importance.
• Developing an Emergency Communications Plan: A Template for Business Continuity Planners  –List of eight essential topics that a crisis communications plan must cover.
• Crisis Communications and Disaster Response  – Tips on communicating with employees and stakeholders post-Disaster.                                       
• 2011 Crisis Preparedness Study  - Helpful statistics about Crisis Preparedness; includes recent case studies.
• Reputation Management  –Slideshow of the basics for pre-planning crisis communication and how to address events strategically.

Integrating Social Media into Your Communications Plan

• 5 Tips for Integrating Social Media into Your Disaster Plans – Helpful tips for using social media following a disaster.
• 8 Tips to Avoid Social Media Disaster – How to plan for and respond to potential damage to your company’s name and brand.
• Social Media Disaster Prevention and Response Tips – Case studies of businesses using social media to preserve their name and brand following a disaster.

Employee Assistance

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can be useful in handling productivity decline following a disaster.  

• Consider how your company can help employees and families access medical care, food, housing, and other essentials.
• Plan to connect employees with resources.  Those hit hardest may not have working phones or the ability to call area resources to find new housing, child care, a kennel, a rental car, or other necessary services.
• Plan for the possibility of employees requiring financial assistance through the form of emergency grants or an advance on future wages. 
• How to Set-Up an Employee Assistance Program?  – Five steps to set up an EAP.
• Employee Assistance & Support  (FEMA) – Steps on setting up an EAP and opening a family assistance center.
• A Manager’s Handbook: Handling Traumatic Events  – Chapters six and seven specifically provide information for businesses looking to set up an Employee Assistance Program. Includes tips on minimizing employees’ stress.

Additional Resources

Depending on the type of hazards your business may face there are a variety of resources to help. These include FEMA, SBA, business continuity publications, local fire departments, Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development organizations, professional organizations and many more. Most  have a strong online presence with tools available via the internet.

• FEMA.gov  – Presents many kinds of preparedness information and materials.
• Ready Business (FEMA) - Helps companies develop a five-step preparedness program that addresses the impact of many hazards.
• Protect your Property or Business from Disaster (FEMA) – A downloadable list of publications detailing how to minimize property losses caused by various types of natural disasters.
• DisasterAssistance.gov  – If you have personal (non-business) losses, register with FEMA here or call FEMA: (800) 621-3362 or TTY (800) 462-7585.
• Disaster Declarations  are made by states to keep track of what is happening and provide immediate resources.
• If there is a federal emergency declared, click here  to find your nearest Disaster Recovery Center.
• SBA: Disaster Loans  Links to articles, factsheets, and forms related to the Disaster Loans program; includes mail-in and online applications.  
• Emergency Preparedness (SBA) – Articles on planning and resources.
• IRS Videos on Disaster Subjects  – Informative videos to help businesses affected by a major disaster.

Recommended

• Disasters U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and American Express Open Applications for Grant Program to Support Small Business Owners Impacted by Maui Wildfires
• Disasters Maui Small Business Recovery Grant Program Toolkit
• Disasters Building Resilience Conference Toolkit
• Disasters Maui Small Business Recovery Grant Program: Terms and Conditions
• Disasters Maui Small Business Recovery Grant Program: Frequently Asked Questions

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Steps for developing a small business disaster recovery plan

In this article, key elements of a business recovery plan , review your insurance plan, basic commercial insurance to consider, additonal resources.

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Businesses that are forced to close down following a disaster run the risk of never being able to open their doors again. While there’s no way to lower the risk of a natural disaster like a hurricane, there are critical measures that can be taken to protect your company’s bottom line from nature’s fury. A disaster plan and adequate insurance are keys to recovery.

No matter how small or large a business, a business impact analysis should be developed to identify what an operation must do to protect itself in the face of a natural disaster. Large corporations often hire risk managers to handle this task and some companies hire consultants with expertise in disaster planning and recovery to assist them with their plans. But small businesses can do the analysis and planning on their own.

• Set up an emergency response plan and train employees how to carry it out. Make sure employees know whom to notify about the disaster and what measures to take to preserve life and limit property losses.
• Write out each step of the plan and assign responsibilities to employees in clear and simple language . Practice the procedures set out in the emergency response plan with regular, scheduled drills.
• Compile a list of important phone numbers and addresses. Make sure you can get in touch with key people after the disaster. The list should include local and state emergency management agencies, major clients, contractors, suppliers, realtors, financial institutions, insurance agents and insurance company claim representatives.
• Decide on a communications strategy to prevent loss of customers. Post notices outside your premises; contact clients by phone, email or regular mail; place a notice in local newspapers.
• Consider the things you may need initially during the emergency. Do you need a back-up source of power? Do you have a back-up communications system?
• Human resources. Protect employees and customers from injury on the premises. Consider the possible impact a disaster will have on your employees’ ability to return to work and how customers can return to your shop or receive goods or services.
• Physical resources . Inspect your business’ plant(s) and assess the impact a disaster would have on facilities. Make sure your plans conform to local building code requirements.
• Business community . Even if your business escapes a disaster, there is still a risk that it could suffer significant losses due to the inability of suppliers to deliver goods or services or a reduction in customers. Businesses should communicate with their suppliers and markets (especially if they are selling to a business as a supplier) about their disaster preparedness and recovery plans, so that everyone is prepared.
• Protect your building . If you own the structure that houses your business, integrate disaster protection for the building as well as the contents into your plan. Consider the financial impact if your business shuts down as a result of a disaster. What would be the impact for a day, a week or an entire revenue period?
• Keep duplicate records. Back-up computerized data files regularly and store them off-premises. Keep copies of important records and documents in a safe deposit box and make sure they’re up-to-date.
• I dentify critical business activities and the resources needed to support them . If you cannot afford to shut down your operations, even temporarily, determine what you require to run the business at another location.
• Find alternative facilities, equipment and supplies, and locate qualified contractors. Consider a reciprocity agreement with another business. Try to get an advance commitment from at least one contractor to respond to your needs.
• Protect computer systems and data. Data storage firms offer offsite backups of computer data that can be updated regularly via high-speed modem or through the Internet. 

Make sure you have sufficient coverage to pay for the indirect costs of the disaster—the disruption to your business—as well as the cost of repair or rebuilding. Most policies do not cover flood or earthquake damage and you may need to buy separate insurance for these perils. Be sure you understand your policy deductibles and limits.

New additions or improvements should also be reflected in your policy. This includes construction improvement to a property and the addition of new equipment.

For a business, the costs of a disaster can extend beyond the physical damage to the premises, equipment, furniture and other business property. There’s the potential loss of income while the premises are unusable. Your disaster recovery should include a detailed review of your insurance policies to ensure there are no gaps in coverage. Your policy should include business interruption insurance and extra expense insurance. Even if your basic policy covers expenses and loss of net business income, it may not cover income interruptions due to damage that occurs away from your premises, such as to your key customer or supplier or to your utility company. You can generally buy this additional coverage and add it to your existing policy.

• Building coverage provides coverage up to the insured value of the building if it is destroyed or damaged by wind/hail, or another covered cause of loss. This policy does not cover damage caused by a flood or storm surge nor does it cover losses due to earth movement, such as a landslide or earthquake, unless added by endorsement.
• Business personal property provides coverage for contents and business inventory damaged or destroyed by wind/hail, or another covered cause of loss.
• Tenants improvements and betterments provides coverage for fixtures, alterations, installations, or additions made as part of the building that the insured occupies but does not own, which are acquired and made at the insured expense.
• Additional property coverage provides for items such as fences, pools or awnings at the insured location. Coverage limits vary by type of additional property.
• Business income provides coverage for lost revenue and normal operating expenses if the place of business becomes uninhabitable after a loss during the time repairs are being made.
• Extra expense provides coverage for the extra expenses incurred, such as temporary relocation or leasing of business equipment, to avoid or minimize the suspension of operations during the time that repairs are being completed to the normal place of business.
• Ordinance or law provides coverage to rebuild or repair the building in compliance with the most recent local building codes.
• Open for Business: A Disaster Planning Toolkit for the Small Business Owner at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
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Make a Plan

DO NOT DELETE THE "EMPTY" SECTION CONTROL BELOW THIS. IT CONTAINS THE GHOST OF CLARA BARTON. 

With your family or household members, discuss how to prepare and respond to the types of emergencies that are most likely to happen where you live, learn, work and play.

Identify responsibilities for each member of your household and how you will work together as a team.

Practice as many elements of your plan as possible.

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Include Common Emergency Scenarios When You Plan

Plan for the emergencies that are most likely to happen where you live.

• Be familiar with natural disaster risks in your community.
• Consider how you will respond to emergencies that can happen anywhere, such as home fires and floods.
• Consider how you will respond to emergencies that are unique to your region, such as volcanoes, tsunamis or tornadoes.
• Think about emergencies that may require your family to shelter in place (such as a winter storm), vs. emergencies that may require evacuation (such as a hurricane).
• Consult our  emergency resource library  for tips on preparing for, responding to, and recovering from specific disasters.

Plan what to do in case you are separated during an emergency

• Right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, such as a fire
• Outside your neighborhood, in case you cannot return home or are asked to evacuate
• Choose an out-of-area emergency contact person. It may be easier to text or call long distance if local phone lines are overloaded or out of service. Everyone should carry emergency contact information in writing and saved on their cell phones. Make sure places where your children spend time also have these contact numbers, like at school or daycare.
• How will you need to adapt your plan if they are at home?
• What will you need to do differently if they are away?

Emergency Contact Card

Make cards for the whole family in case you are separated during an emergency.

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Plan what to do if you have to evacuate

• A hotel/motel
• The home of friends or relatives a safe distance away
• An evacuation shelter
• Practice evacuating your home twice a year. Grab your emergency kit, just like you will in a real emergency, then drive your planned evacuation route. Plot alternate routes on your map in case roads are impassable. Make sure you have locations and maps saved on devices such as cell phones and GPS units and on paper.
• Plan ahead for your pets. Keep a phone list of pet-friendly hotels/motels and animal shelters that are along your evacuation routes. Remember, if it’s not safe for you to stay home, it’s not safe for your pets either.

Plan for everyone in your home

Some members of your household may need special accommodation during an emergency, which means planning ahead is even more crucial.

• Older Adults
• People with Disabilities

Plan to let loved ones know you’re safe

Read our tips  tips for reconnecting with loved ones  if you are separated during a disaster or emergency and decide which techniques your family will use.

Find our Emergency App in the  Apple Store » or  Google Play »

Aplicación de Emergencias - ahora disponible en  español » también!

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From COVID-19 to Hurricane Season: Disaster Preparedness for Small Business

Table of Contents

Running a small business is hard enough without having to rebuild after a natural disaster. Many businesses worldwide make the mistake of not preparing for disasters properly and are left to suffer the costly consequences. However, small business disaster preparedness planning is easier than you might think. We scoured the internet and interviewed risk management experts to bring you the best tips and resources so that you can finally check “disaster plan” off your to-do list.

What does good disaster preparedness look like?

What does good disaster preparedness mean? We asked Frank Russo, managing director of commercial risk advisory firm Imperium Consulting Group. He told us an impressive story.

A large consumer goods retailer calls a standing meeting after every major natural disaster — even ones with no effect on their business, Russo shared. They discuss what they would have done if the disaster had happened at one of their locations. Russo explained that the company builds these brainstorming sessions into a regular “catastrophe gaming process” where employees act out disaster situations. The real-life stress tests identify weak points — for example, a door that can’t be locked because the facilities person is on vacation.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike caused a significant loss for this company in Houston. Still, it recovered quickly thanks to all its preparation — so quickly that Russo says it saw higher-than-normal sales after the hurricane. Why? It was one of the only businesses open in the area.

Many businesses faced disaster-preparedness crises in 2020 when the World Health Organization recognized the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic — beginning a year-long health and economic struggle. The pandemic impacted businesses all over the world. While many shuttered their doors for good, some managed to survive and others thrived. The companies that were prepared and able to pivot quickly were likelier to remain in business.

4 steps for disaster preparedness

Studies show that more than 40 percent of small businesses close permanently after a disaster. Among the businesses that reopen, another 25 percent fail within a year.

A good disaster plan means fewer days out of business, better communication with customers and a better insurance company settlement. Add it all up and your plan could be the reason your small business beats the odds.

Look, we know you have a long to-do list. But trustworthy government resources developed over the past few years have made creating a disaster plan much easier than you’d think. As Russo says, “Even a basic plan is better than no plan.”

Here are four key steps involved in creating a disaster preparedness strategy.

Step 1: Identify risk.

Which of these large-scale disasters is a threat to your business?

• Winter weather
• Earthquakes

If you have a single location, you already know the answer. But what about any additional areas that are critical to your business’s success? Consider additional business locations , where computer servers are located, where goods are stored and even areas where your employees commute from or work remotely. This risk assessment table from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will help.

If you have various business insurance types , ensure you’re covered for disasters that could hurt you. Your agent can tell you what coverage you need.

One thing you can do in the next 15 minutes to make your business more prepared is review one of the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) and Agility Recovery checklists below.

Step 2: Develop a plan.

The key to developing any good plan is to put one person in charge. This is your disaster plan coordinator. They decide how to develop the plan but you, as the business owner or manager, should be clear about what they must include. Here are some questions to consider when you assign this critical task.

Does the plan coordinator need a supporting committee?

If your business is large enough to have separate departments, the answer is probably yes. Each internal department will have its own unique assets, systems and requirements and you don’t want an outsider guessing what those might be.

Next, consider the entire scope of your operations. Do you ship hundreds of packages daily? If so, add a shipping company staff member to the supporting committee. Any vendor, supplier or government agency you use daily should be represented on your committee. They can explain their own disaster preparedness planning and how that will affect your post-disaster operations.

What are the minimum elements your plan requires?

Disaster plans aim to ensure the well-being of your employees, the stability of your location and your ability to keep the business running. You may need a 100-page guide or a simple series of reference sheets. Either way, your planning coordinator must understand the scope of your plan before they can properly develop it.

Your plan must address the following three goals, at the very least:

• Keep employees safe.
• Secure dangerous objects and chemicals. 
• Keep your business running.

These are the minimum viable elements of a disaster plan:

• An evacuation policy, including maps and routes
• Who employees should contact, inside and outside the company, for additional information about what to do
• Who is required to stay onsite to perform essential functions or shut down critical items
• Who is responsible for rescue and medical duties
• Employee emergency contact information, plus information about unique medical needs
• Special instructions regarding hazardous materials and equipment, if necessary

What special circumstances does your plan need to address?

Direct your plan coordinator to address any special circumstances related to your employees, your environment or your business operations. Here are some examples:

• An employee with mobility issues
• An irreplaceable piece of equipment that requires maximum protection
• A specific Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirement for the storage of a particular chemical

If you have business insurance , this is an excellent time to ask your insurance broker or agent any questions you have. Do you know the monthly premium you pay? Part of what you’re paying for is access to your insurer’s risk management experts. They have seen the aftermath of disasters from coast to coast and can help you decide what to prioritize in your disaster planning.

Here are some other resources to help you build out your plan requirements:

• Red Cross: Ready Rating
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Small Business Disaster Preparation Quick Guide
• FEMA Ready: Business Impact Analysis
• FEMA Ready: Disaster Plan Performance Objectives
• IRS: Preparing for a Disaster

Step 3: Implement and train.

Your disaster plan coordinator, their supporting committee and you, as the business owner or manager, should approve the final plan — but your work doesn’t stop there.

A disaster plan isn’t something you dust off when the red warning stripe comes across your TV screen. You’ll have action items as soon as your plan is complete. The idea is to identify things you can do now so you won’t have to do them in the days or hours before a natural disaster.

Here are a few examples.

Evacuation routes and wardens

Employees need to know where to go in case of an evacuation. Supply evacuation maps and post them in visible areas. Designate one or more individuals to ensure everyone gets out of the building safely — these folks are called evacuation wardens. OSHA recommends you designate one warden for every 20 employees .

Disaster communications materials

Approve emergency communications for employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Write these now, with fill-in-the-blanks to cover disaster scenarios. Ensure people who need access have it both at work and home. Don’t be like the state governor who couldn’t tweet because he forgot his password .

Employee go bag

“In the event of a weather emergency, employee safety needs to be the No. 1 priority,” said Peter Duncanson, disaster preparedness and recovery expert at ServiceMaster Restore. “Having a preparedness kit on hand, stocked with nonperishable food, clean water, first-aid supplies and emergency tools like a hand-crank radio and backup batteries will all serve as valuable resources, especially if you have to wait out the storm for an extended period of time.”

When you plan the items to include in an employee go bag, consider how far employees travel to your work location and that roads may be rendered impassable. This Red Cross quiz can help you decide what to include.

Every employee in your organization has a role during an emergency — even if it’s getting themselves out of the building safely. Your plan should identify which employees are responsible for which roles.

Businesses of all sizes should have a person or team responsible for business continuity and crisis communications. In a small company, this will be you, the owner:

• Business continuity team: The business continuity team prepares the business to restart once it’s safe. This team also works with the insurance company to recoup losses caused by the disaster. The sooner you start making money again and the more you get back from your insurance company, the more likely your business is to survive.
• Crisis communications team: The crisis communications team is responsible for developing a crisis communication strategy and delivering crucial messages during a disaster.

Here’s a sample training scheme:

Step 4: Be a preparedness leader in your community.

In a natural disaster, you may be at the mercy of your least-prepared neighbor. The unsecured restaurant patio umbrella that comes flying through your window or the hazardous materials that floodwaters carry into your parking lot might not be a threat if you were in charge of them, but you aren’t. And the longer your community takes to get back on its feet, the longer you’re likely to wait for business to ramp up again.

Communities often come together after a disaster, but it would be even better if they did so before the disaster happened.

Consider sharing your disaster preparedness plan to encourage other business owners and raise your profile in the community. Promoting your disaster preparedness efforts helps in these areas:

• Hiring and retention: Promoting your disaster preparedness can help when you hire staff . By showing prospective employees — and reminding current ones — that you take employee safety seriously, you encourage them to join and remain with your company.
• New business acquisition: Talking about disaster preparedness is a way to connect with potential customers and referrers that doesn’t require a sales pitch.
• Social media growth: Feel-good stories about your steps to keep the community safe can generate positive social media attention. Don’t be shy — you put in the work and deserve those likes and shares.

Ready’s Business Emergency Preparedness Social Media Toolkit has sample messaging and graphics to work from. They’re a little dry, so challenge your marketing team to do better. They should relish the opportunity to talk about something other than your products.

A business owner’s take: Prepare now so you can improvise later

Bennett’s Market & Deli is a neighborhood grocery in Atlanta’s Grant Park. In September 2017, Victoria Bennett and Claire Pearson had owned the store for five years without experiencing a single power outage. But as Hurricane Irma approached, they put their disaster plan into action.

They bought a generator and massive amounts of ice and collected coolers from neighbors. They moved all their backroom stock off the floor to protect it from flooding. They sent staff home, deciding to run the store themselves rather than risk employees’ safety.

Then, the power went out and it was time to get creative. With no way to run their credit card processors and cash registers and no light in the store, Bennett and Pearson were still able to sell beer, wine, bread and snacks using a cash bag and manual receipts.

“I think the neighborhood really appreciated that we were open,” Pearson said.

You never know how bad a disaster is going to be and you can’t control it. Maybe flooding would have forced Pearson and Bennett to evacuate. Maybe the power would’ve stayed on. But they were prepared, which let them pivot as the situation required. In the end, they formed a stronger bond with their customers.

An expert’s take: What you should do right now

Russo advises Fortune 100 corporations about disaster planning. We asked him, “What do you tell friends who own small businesses when they ask what they should do?”

“At a minimum, have an inventory of what your assets are and make sure it’s up to date,” Russo advised. That’s something you could knock off in less than an hour.

Once you’ve done that, consider following the steps above to create an actionable plan for your business.

“Have an updated planning review session once per year,” Russo recommended. “Ideally, every quarter.”

The best action you can take, says Russo, is to weave disaster preparedness into the fabric of your business like the company in Houston did.

The true indicator of your disaster plan’s strength will be your business not only surviving the disaster but thriving during the recovery.

SBA and Agility Recovery disaster checklists

The SBA and Agility Recovery provide comprehensive checklists of things you should do in the days before a disaster is likely to strike. Review the ones applicable to your business — you want to ensure you can do as much as possible. All checklists are printable PDFs, although some may need to be downloaded with a business email:

• Flood Preparedness
• Winter Weather Preparedness
• Influenza Preparedness
• Bomb Threat Preparedness
• Earthquake Preparedness  

FEMA Ready Business Toolkits

These 40- to 65-page documents are a good place to start. They are generic and broad because they are meant to work for many different types of businesses. However, they provide a solid framework focused on six factors: staff, surroundings, space, systems, structure and service:

• Hurricane Toolkit [ In English / En Español ]
• Inland Flooding Toolkit [ In English / En Español ]
• Power Outage Toolkit [ In English / En Español ]
• Severe Wind/Tornado Toolkit [ In English / En Español ]
• QuakeSmart Toolkit [ In English / En Español ]

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Minimizing Downtime With a Comprehensive Disaster Recovery Plan Checklist

Preparing for recovery starts long before a disaster occurs. Use this checklist to help plan ahead to minimize disruptions and downtime from any business disaster.

• Checklist Infographic

13-Step Disaster Recovery Plan Checklist

When a disaster strikes—whether it’s a crippling ransomware event or a destructive natural disaster—a smooth recovery process is critical to getting back on your feet. But that recovery doesn’t simply unfold as soon as the storm recedes. Rapid operational recovery starts with planning long before the disaster even occurs.

Before Hurricane Michael hit Panama City in 2018, Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc., thought they were thoroughly prepared for the storm and recovery. “We have a really extensive hurricane preparedness plan across all of our coastal locations,” explains Gianetta Jones, Vice President & Chief People Officer. But the Category 5 storm caused severe damage to cell phone infrastructure that the Coca-Cola team was not ready for. Gianetta told us on The Employee Safety Podcast , “We had to pivot and purchased several very expensive satellite phones for our operators that were local to be able to communicate with us at the corporate office.”

Flexibility is necessary in disaster recovery, as disasters hardly follow a predictable plan. But the right preparation can make it possible to adapt and maximize your time and resources through recovery. A comprehensive disaster recovery plan is not just a “good-to-have” safety net; it serves as a roadmap for resuming operations efficiently and effectively, minimizing the impact on your business and clients. And a great way to get started on your disaster recovery planning process (or to review and reassess your standing plan) is with a disaster recovery plan checklist.

Whether you’re facing natural calamities, cyberattacks, or technological failures, this checklist will guide you through establishing robust protocols to protect your assets, data, and your operational continuity.

Download Our Business Continuity Checklist

1. Assess the risks and impacts

Conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify potential disasters and emergencies and look for vulnerabilities. Then, perform a detailed business impact analysis to understand the potential impact of disasters on your business operations. These assessments will help you determine what disasters you must prepare for and what recovery might be necessary.

2. Coordinate with departments and identify stakeholders

Engage all internal departments to gather input and ensure comprehensive coverage. In particular, you’ll want to work with teams involved in emergency preparedness, IT, business continuity, security, and any other function that may be impacted by the event. Additionally, determine any stakeholders, internal and external, crucial to the recovery processes.

3. Review past emergencies

Analyze any previous incidents your organization has been through to learn from past emergencies and refine your current planning efforts. You can also look at organizations similar in size and industry to understand how they have experienced disasters.

4. Assemble the leadership team

The disaster recovery team members will be dedicated to managing the disaster recovery process, though not necessarily executing the entire disaster recovery plan themselves. They will serve as important leaders and decision-makers throughout the process.

5. Document systems and processes

Thoroughly record all critical business systems and processes. This might include software applications, physical items in your facility, digital systems, on-site and off-site resources, or processes vital to your operations. If it is something that a disaster might impact, it should be considered in this step.

Once you have your list, do the following for each item:

For example, when building an IT disaster recovery plan, you’ll want to document all your IT systems, identify the most critical pieces of IT infrastructure, and arrange for data backups, secondary data centers, and other data protection for any critical data that may be impacted.

6. Analyze your recovery needs

Perform a detailed recovery analysis for each type of disaster that could impact the business. Include the following steps in this analysis:

7. Set up your recovery plan templates

If you are using a disaster recovery plan template, you’ll want to make copies of the template pages to fill out. You want a tailored recovery plan for each type of disaster, so multiple versions of the template are a must.

8. Assign personnel

Identify and document all personnel who will be involved in each recovery and response plan. Write down their roles and responsibilities within the recovery efforts and contact information.

9. Establish the activation criteria

Set clear criteria for when to activate the disaster recovery plan. Clarify the turning point between disaster response procedures and disaster recovery, so you don’t hesitate in the event of a disaster.

10. Write the recovery plan

The previous disaster recovery checklist stages prepare you to document your plan. Detail the specific steps and strategies to recover from each disaster you may face.

11. List resources and related documents

Document all the resources required for the recovery plan and their locations. Include links or references to any related plans and supportive documentation. This might include your business continuity plan , risk assessments from earlier in the process, or documentation for a specific recovery strategy.

12. Develop a communication plan

Communication is critical to recovery, so ensure your plan includes a clear process for reaching your employees, stakeholders, and external resources. Design a comprehensive emergency communication plan detailing:

13. Evaluate your response

Don’t make the mistake of building out your disaster recovery plan and assuming it can stay the same year after year. Not only are the disaster scenarios you face likely to change, but your organization will also grow and change; what worked for recovery at one point won’t necessarily work weeks, months, or years later. Regularly test, evaluate, and update the disaster recovery plan to ensure it still meets your business needs over time.

Planning for Resilience Through Operational Failback

With the right plan in place, recovery doesn’t have to feel like a disaster in and of itself. Develop a comprehensive disaster recovery plan with this checklist to keep your whole team on the same page and align their efforts.

Unlike an IT system failback, to recover your business operations, you often need to build them back up one by one. Following all 13 steps, you can ensure you don’t miss a critical system in your DR plan, and you minimize the effort it takes to quickly and confidently return to normal operations.

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Start » strategy, how to build a disaster recovery plan for your small business.

The road to recovery after a disaster doesn’t have to be painful. Learn the six steps you need to take to build an effective recovery plan for your business.

It’s not always possible to avoid the business fallout of a disaster like a pandemic, earthquake, or cybersecurity breach. But you can build a recovery plan to get your business up and running ASAP. Here are six steps you can take to get started.

Review your insurance coverage

Having the right business insurance can be crucial to surviving a disaster. You should regularly review your policies to ensure there are no gaps in your coverage.

For instance, if you live in an area that regularly experiences earthquakes, you want to ensure your policy will protect your business against these risks. You also want to ensure that your insurance will cover the disruption to your company and pay for damages.

[Read more: How to Choose Cyber Insurance ]

Audit your business resources

Next, you want to audit all critical business resources , including:

• Equipment and other assets.
• Perishable resources or products.
• Staff members.
• Property or real estate.

Once your audit is complete, you’ll know what your business stands to lose if it’s exposed to different types of emergencies. For instance, your business could sustain a lot of physical damage during a flood.

But your business may suffer economic damage during a cybersecurity hack. Auditing your business resources will help you determine which areas of your business to focus on.

Have a plan to backup your data

You must have a reliable data backup plan before disaster strikes. Over 50% of businesses aren’t prepared for a significant data loss, and 60% of those companies end up going out of business within six months.

It’s best to have multiple data backup plans in place. For instance, you could buy and use an external hard drive to back up your company’s data. And you should also backup your data in the cloud so that you can access it from anywhere.

[Read more: What Is the 3-2-1 Backup Rule? ]

Over 50% of businesses aren’t prepared for a significant data loss, and 60% of those companies end up going out of business within six months.

Make a list of key employees

The next step is determining which employees are critical to your business functions. For instance, your IT team would be critical in keeping your electronic processes functioning properly in an emergency, whereas sales reps may not be as necessary.

When an emergency strikes, you should immediately reach out to the employees and internal partners that can help keep your business running. No one can fully recover from a disaster on their own, so utilizing the right people will make your recovery efforts much smoother.

Communicate with your customers

No matter what kind of disaster you encounter, it’s key to have a plan for communicating with your customers. For instance, if your company was the victim of a security breach, you should let your customers know what happened and what steps you’re taking to mitigate the damage.

Make sure your customers know what’s happening and how to get in touch with you. It’s also a good idea to pick one employee to monitor your social media networks and answer questions.

[Read more: 5 Crisis Communication Best Practices Every Small Business Should Know ]

Apply for the Small Business Readiness for Resiliency Program

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation partnered with FedEx to create the Small Business Readiness for Resiliency (R2R) Program . The R2R program encourages businesses to prepare for natural disasters before they occur and awards grants to businesses in qualifying areas.

You’ll start by downloading FedEx’s Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Small Businesses. This checklist will help you create an Emergency Action Plan for your business.

From there, you’ll apply online and provide more details about your business. If you apply before a disaster strikes in your area, you may be selected to receive a grant to help your business recover.

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

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How to create a disaster recovery plan (DRP)

A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a set of guidelines and procedures that ensure the availability of data and critical systems in the event of a disaster. Putting a DRP in place insulates your organization from negative consequences such as:

• Data loss: Proper backups and a cybersecurity disaster recovery plan allows an organization to recover important data which would otherwise have been lost.
• Business interruption: Quick recovery of critical systems and data can reduce downtime, and keep your business productive
• Legal and regulatory compliance issues: Certain industries are subject to certain data regulations. A DRP helps avoid an accidental violation of regulations and their respective penalties.
• Increased costs: Having a DRP can help lower costs for disaster recovery and keep insurance rates from growing.
• Loss of customer trust: By protecting your customers’ sensitive data, you’ll help preserve trust and retain their business.

While very important, the process of creating a DRP shouldn’t be feared. That’s why we’ve prepared this step-by-step guide to help you create the plan that best suits your organization.

The Difference Between a Business Continuity Plan and a Disaster Recovery Plan

Although business continuity planning (BCP) and disaster recovery (DR) share similar objectives in enhancing an organization’s resiliency, they differ in terms of their scope. Business continuity is a proactive strategy that aims to reduce risks and maintain the ability of an organization to provide products and services, regardless of any disruptions. It primarily concentrates on methods to ensure that employees can continue their work and that the business can remain operational during a disaster event.

On the other hand, disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity that specifically deals with the IT systems essential for business continuity. It outlines the steps needed to restore technology operations after an incident occurs. It’s a reactive process that necessitates planning but is only activated when a disaster actually happens.

Essential Steps for Creating an Effective Disaster Recovery Plan

Here is an overview of disaster recovery planning steps.

Obtain Management Buy-In

The top management plays a key role in ensuring the success of the DRP. It allocates resources in the form of capital, human resources, time, and advisory support to the team charged with developing and implementing the plan. Therefore, management should be involved in the entire process. Before starting, ensure that the top management is on the same page and has given you the nod to continue with the plan. Address any concerns that the management team may have regarding the plan before getting started.

Create Your DRP Team

Put together a DRP team to oversee the development and actual implementation of your plan. Each member of the disaster recovery planning committee should play a specific role in the success of your plan. This ensures that the operations during a disaster are smooth and well coordinated. Here are the most critical roles on the team:

• Disaster Recovery Team Lead: This person is responsible for the development and implementation of the DRP. They also coordinate the efforts of the other team members.
• Unit Managers: They are accountable to management  for identifying the critical systems, processes, and data that are essential to their specific business unit and developing recovery procedures for those assets.
• IT/IS Staff: They are responsible for the technical aspects of the DRP, including the creation and maintenance of backups, testing of recovery procedures, and coordination with vendors and other IT services.
• Communication/Public Relations: They are responsible for developing and implementing communications procedures for use during a disaster and communicating with internal and external stakeholders (E.g. customers and media).
• Employee or Human Resource Representatives: They are responsible for addressing the needs of employees during and after a disaster, including coordinating evacuation and providing support for employees affected by the disaster.
• Legal and Regulatory Compliance Team: They are responsible for ensuring that the DRP is compliant with all relevant laws and regulations, as well as helping the organization avoid penalties and legal entanglements.
• External vendors: They can provide important support, such as disaster recovery services, equipment rental, and other logistics. You should have their roles and contact information readily available and documented.

Complete a Risk Assessment

An effective Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is built on a thorough business impact and risk analysis that considers various likely disasters, such as technical, human-induced, and natural disasters.

The disaster recovery planning committee should analyze the potential risks and consequences of these disasters in each department in the organization. This process should consider all critical systems, processes, and data essential to the organization’s operations, as well as the potential consequences and negative impact of each disaster scenario on the organization’s overall performance.

Traditionally, fire has been a leading threat to organizations, but it is essential to also consider scenarios of human malicious destruction, such as cyber-attacks, sabotage, or terrorism, and plan accordingly. The DRP should also provide for the worst scenario, such as complete site destruction.

The committee should also evaluate the impacts of the loss of vital data. This could include, but is not limited to, data recovery costs, productivity loss, and reputational damage. Additionally, it should analyze the costs related to preventing data loss and creating a robust IT disaster recovery plan, including the costs of equipment, software, personnel, and external vendors.

It’s important to keep in mind that risk assessment and business impact analysis are ongoing processes that need to be regularly updated to reflect changes in the organization’s operations and threat environment. By assessing the potential risks and impacts of different disaster scenarios, organizations can better prepare for and respond to a disaster, minimize downtime, and mitigate consequences following an emergency.

Identify Critical Needs and Recovery Strategies

Organizations should evaluate the critical needs of each department to ensure continuity of operations in the event of a disaster. The evaluation should focus on several key areas, including operations, key departmental personnel, information, processing systems, service, documentation, vital records, and procedures. Analysis helps the organization determine how much time it can operate without any such systems.

Define what constitutes a department’s critical needs. These are essential procedures and equipment required for a department, server room, main facility, or all of these to continue operations in the event of a disruption such as destruction or inaccessibility. Document all departmental operations. Then, rank the operations and processes in terms of priority, with essential functions at the top, followed by important, then non-essential functions.

Once done, check the recovery options available for each of the assets. Prioritize the best options in terms of full recovery and speed, but have as many options at hand as possible. Here are some possible options:

• Backup and recovery: This strategy involves regularly creating backups of important data and storing them in a secure location (hopefully geographically isolated from the source). In the event of data loss, the backup can be used to recover the lost data.
• RAID recovery: involves using specialized software to reconstruct data from a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) system that has failed. This will be helpful for recovering from hardware failure associated with a server in your data center.
• Cloud recovery: This is the use of cloud services to store and recover data. Be mindful of the way you leverage cloud/SaaS for data storage and possible gaps in usage and adoption within your organization.
• Remote recovery: You use remote access technology to access and recover data from a remote data server. If you have a so-called “warm” or “hot” spare copy of your data for redundancy, you can leverage this for re-population of an impacted site instead of a backup.
• Physical recovery: This involves repairing IT infrastructure after physical damage or replacing failed hardware in order to recover data.
• Disk imaging: Here, you create a virtual copy of the entire storage space on a particular medium or just the used space. This can also be known as “full system” or “bare-metal” restoration. You restore the image after losing data.

The 321 backup strategy is a widely accepted best practice for data backup and recovery. It involves creating three copies of important data, storing them on two different types of media, and keeping one copy offsite. This strategy helps protect against data loss due to a variety of potential issues, such as hardware failure, natural disasters, or cyber-attacks. The three copies of the data provide redundancy, while the use of multiple types of media and offsite storage helps to protect against data loss from more complex incidents (such as a natural or site disaster).

Collect Data and Document Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Here are some common types of data to gather:

• Critical telephone numbers
• Listing for backup positions
• Communications inventory
• Equipment inventory
• Software and data file backup and retention schedules
• Primary calling list
• Vendor list
• Main computer hardware inventory
• Microcomputer software and hardware inventory
• Telephone inventory
• Forms inventory
• Insurance policy inventory
• Office supply inventory
• Distribution register
• Documentation inventory
• Notification checklist
• Offsite storage location inventory
• Temporary location details

Write a plan detailing all procedures to use before and after a data disaster. The written plan should also include procedures for updating the plan to reflect any changes in important areas it covers. Be as specific as possible. Do not assume the person or people deploying the plan have your same level of knowledge. For example, “migrate system to new network segment” may not be enough information.

Structure the disaster recovery plan with team members. Assign specific responsibilities to each department in the organization. You should have someone responsible for facilities, logistics, administrative functions, user support, restoration, computer backup, and any other essential area in the organization.

Test and Revise

There are several ways to test a DRP:

• Conduct a tabletop exercise in which key personnel simulate a disaster scenario and work through the procedures outlined in the plan.
• Conduct a full-scale test in which the procedures are actually executed in a controlled environment.
• Perform regular reviews and updates of the plan to ensure that it takes into account any changes in the organization’s systems or operations.

A regular testing process should be established to determine the effectiveness of the DR plan and identify areas for improvement. Address any issues identified during testing during the revision. Check if the issues have been resolved in your next test cycle. Remember, testing and revising is a continuous process that should occur regularly.

Maintain an Updated DRP

Keeping a disaster recovery plan up to date is critical for effective disaster response and recovery. An updated DRP should consider changes in the organization’s systems or operations. This includes new technologies, business processes, software and hardware assets, personnel or organizational structure changes, and any other changes that may impact the organization’s ability to recover from a disaster.

Regular reviews and updates to the DRP help ensure that it remains current and relevant and that the organization is prepared to respond to and recover from a wide range of potential disasters. It should be reviewed at regular intervals, such as once a year, or more frequently if there are significant changes to the organization.

During the review process, assess the effectiveness of the plan, identify areas for improvement, and update the procedures and strategies as necessary. This may include updating contact lists, reviewing recovery time objectives, conducting additional testing of the plan, and also updating the backup solutions, and testing the data recovery.

It is also important to keep staff informed and educated about the changes to the plan so that they are prepared to respond quickly and effectively in a disaster.

Start now with CrashPlan

An effective disaster recovery plan can make or break your organization. It’s your perfect ally when an unexpected threat becomes a reality and interrupts your operations. Don’t wait until you actually need it and start putting together your set of tools to help in data loss protection and recovery, minimizing downtime and associated losses in the meantime.

That’s where we come in. CrashPlan offers the protection you need to keep your critical information safe. Reduce your operational interruptions and the costs of pulling through a disaster with cost-effective automatic cloud backup. No matter how many devices your DRP covers, we can have options tailor made for your team.

CrashPlan is the endpoint cloud backup solution for you. We have the expertise and tools to cater to any data backup requirements. Contact us today for a consultation.

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Planning Guides

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Accomplished properly, planning provides a methodical way to engage the whole community in thinking through the lifecycle of a potential crisis, determining required capabilities and establishing a framework for roles and responsibilities. It shapes how a community envisions and shares a desired outcome, selects effective ways to achieve it and communicates expected results.

A shared planning community increases the likelihood of integration and synchronization, makes planning cycles more efficient and effective and makes plan maintenance easier.

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Climate Adaptation Planning: Guidance for Emergency Managers

We are releasing the “ Climate Adaptation Planning: Guidance for Emergency Managers .” The guide’s structure is designed to walk state, local, tribal, and territorial partners through the Six Step Planning Process, as identified in Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101: Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans . The climate guide also highlights existing climate mapping tools, trainings, and potential funding resources.

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FEMA and the DHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships are seeking feedback on the draft, “Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations: Planning Considerations for Emergency Managers.” This document outlines best practices for engaging faith-based and community organizations before, during, and after disasters to help jurisdictions improve their resilience and emergency management capabilities.

To provide feedback on the draft:

• Download the line-numbered draft “ Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations: Planning Considerations for Emergency Managers ” and Feedback Form and email feedback to [email protected] by June 21, 2024.
• Attend a webinar session providing an overview of the draft and facilitated discussion with attendees to gather feedback.

Local Elected and Appointed Officials Guide

The document and associated quick reference guide and checklists provide an executive-level introduction to emergency management concepts and principles for local senior officials and identifies local senior officials’ roles and responsibilities for emergency management before, during and after disasters. Download the Quick Reference Guide and Checklist . View the short video on potential roles local elected and appointed officials can play before, during and after disasters.

Evacuation and Shelter-in-Place

Identifies relevant concepts, considerations, and principles that can inform jurisdictions in planning for evacuation and/or shelter-in-place protective actions.  The research report Improving Public Messaging for Evacuation and Shelter-in-Place and its companion slide library documents findings from peer-reviewed research and presents recommendations for informing community members about risk and providing effective warnings.

The Shelter-in-Place Pictogram Guidance provides the public clear protective action guidance for 10 hazards and three building types. The guidance includes recommended interior locations by hazard, additional protective actions, and duration. Social media friendly versions are available to provide clear protective action guidance regardless of platform.

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Disaster Financial Management Guide

Identifies the capabilities and activities necessary to prepare and successfully implement disaster financial management while maintaining fiscal responsibility throughout response and recovery operations.

Healthcare Facilities and Power Outages

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Developed in coordination with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), “ Planning Considerations for Cyber Incidents: Guidance for Emergency Managers Guide ” provides state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency managers with foundational knowledge of cyber incidents to increase cyber preparedness efforts in their jurisdictions. This guide is intended to help emergency management personnel collaboratively prepare for a cyber incident and support the development of a cyber incident response plan or annex. Download the Overview document and Critical Cyber Asset Identification & Prioritization Checklist . View the short video outlining the important roles emergency managers have in planning for cyber incidents impacting their communities through the identification and prioritization of critical services and dependencies.

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Guide on emergency operations planning, discussing actions that may be taken before, during and after an incident to reduce the impact on property and loss of life. It encourages houses of worship to develop an emergency operations plan.

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This guide outlines principles of emergency management planning for institutions of higher education, provides a process for the development of emergency operations plans and describes the content with those plans.

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Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning Guides

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This guide prepares tribal governments for recovery efforts from future disasters by engaging with the whole community and planning for recovery activities that are comprehensive and long term.

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State Governments

This guide helps states and territories prepare for recovery by developing pre-disaster recovery plans that follow a process to engage members of the whole community, develop recovery capabilities across government and nongovernmental partners and create an organizational framework for comprehensive recovery efforts.

Private Public Partnerships

The Private-Public Partnerships (P3) Guide and supplemental documents provide jurisdictions with best practices to establish and maintain a private-public partnership to help coordinate mitigation, response & recovery planning and preparedness, and increase community resilience. 

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Restoration and Recovery Guide

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Provides recommendations and resources for any P3 to develop, conduct, and improve the capability to share information for resilience and all response and recovery. The members of a P3 often share information through the human and technical systems of a partnership network, a community resilience hub, or a business emergency operations center (BEOC).

Implementation of Community Lifelines

Lifelines enable the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and is essential to human health and safety or economic security.

Disaster Resource Identification Fact Sheet

This fact sheet provides recommendations and resources for jurisdictions to conduct disaster resource identification, includes recovery resources, guidance for how to search for disaster recovery resources, and recommendations for disaster resource management.

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Business Continuity vs. Disaster Recovery: What’s the Difference?

Disaster recovery and business continuity are two processes that help organizations ensure their resilience when unexpected adverse events occur. Learn more about them and how they differ.

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May 07, 2024

When disaster strikes, whether it’s natural or human-made, businesses need to be prepared. Business continuity planning helps organizations continue operating during or after an event, while disaster recovery planning helps them restore IT infrastructure and data after a disruption.

When the unexpected happens, poorly prepared businesses run the risk that everything could come to a screeching halt. Customers could stop placing orders, outgoing shipments could cease, and productivity can grind to a standstill. All of that leads to lost revenue, unhappy customers, and bad publicity. In some cases, it can even result in compliance failures and financial penalties.

It’s important to understand the distinctions between business continuity planning (BCP) and disaster recovery planning (DRP) because they each entail a different set of problems, priorities, and solutions. 

Historically, business continuity and disaster recovery have called for complex and expensive solutions with multiple potential points of failure. Recent innovations, including Pure Storage® ActiveCluster ™, combine simplicity and ease of use with robustness and dependability. Before we delve further into solutions, though, let’s talk about the main differences between BCP and DRP.

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What Is Disaster Recovery Planning?

Disaster recovery , often referred to simply as “DR,” ensures that organizations can rebound quickly in the face of major adverse events. When a hurricane leads to widespread power outages, flooding, and workforce disruption, for example, an effective disaster recovery plan ensures that IT systems remain up and running and that operations can come back online as soon as possible.  

The primary focus of DR is to restore IT infrastructure and data after a significantly disruptive event. This includes minimizing downtime, minimizing data loss, and ensuring business continuity. Readiness starts with an effective disaster recovery plan that incorporates backup systems, data replication, and testing procedures to ensure that the plan will work in practice.

What Is Business Continuity Planning?

Business continuity is somewhat broader in its scope, encompassing an entire organization’s ability to continue operations during and after a crisis. Not only does it address a wider range of functions, but it also encompasses a larger array of potential disruptions, including localized events that might simply halt operations for a brief period of time.

Business continuity plans address the need to maintain essential operational functions, manage risks proactively, and adapt to changing circumstances. When a regional storm makes travel difficult and causes short-term power outages, for example, an effective business continuity plan will have already laid out the potential impact, measures to mitigate associated problems, and a strategy for communicating with employees, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders.

Disaster Recovery vs. Business Continuity: Key Differences 

So, what is the difference between BCP and DR? 

Business continuity planning addresses the big picture, including a broad range of operational functions, whereas disaster recovery planning deals primarily with IT infrastructure and data recovery.

BCP extends beyond the IT department into key business processes such as supply chain management , customer service, and human resources. DR is a vital subset of business continuity because it attends to the recovery and continued operation of the company’s IT backbone.

BCP and DR have slightly different objectives as well. The former prioritizes keeping things going, even if it’s not “business as usual.” The latter seeks to restore normalcy as quickly as possible.

Business continuity planning often entails temporary measures or workarounds that are not part of the company’s normal routines. In the face of regional disruptions, for example, a company might reallocate workloads to a secondary location or contract with an outside organization to fill a gap temporarily. 

In this respect, business continuity often includes plans that enable the organization to continue operations under adverse conditions. This requires planners to identify essential business functions, create manual workarounds for automated processes, and ensure that sufficient resources will be available to continue operations. In BCP, the goal is to keep things going, even if extraordinary measures are required to do so.

The objective of DR, in contrast, is to minimize downtime, restore data to the greatest extent possible, and return critical IT systems to their normal state as rapidly as possible. This typically involves detailed technical strategies for system failover, data recovery, and backups. The primary objective is a rapid return to normalcy while minimizing losses.

Because BCP encompasses a broader range of functions, it also requires a more detailed approach to scenario planning, risk assessment, and contingency measures. Testing business continuity requires that organizations simulate various scenarios to ensure that all aspects of the plan function correctly and that personnel are able to perform their roles adequately.

DRP also calls for routine testing, but such tests tend to be more focused in their scope, zeroing in on the immediate aftermath of a disaster and aiming to get systems back online within a specified target time frame.

Importance for Organizations

To ensure their resilience in the face of adverse events, organizations should have both a disaster recovery plan and a business continuity plan in place. The unexpected can happen when you least expect it, and things can change quickly.

When a cargo ship destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore earlier this year, it severed access to the port, halting operations for the businesses that operated there and disrupting supply chains for countless companies.

When Colonial Pipeline suffered a ransomware attack in 2021, there were fuel shortages in 17 states. Numerous airlines were compelled to alter their flight schedules, and drivers were faced with long lines at the gas station. 

These events illustrate why it’s so important to have both a business continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan in place and to test them routinely. Even for companies with very little exposure to weather disasters or supply chain disruptions, it’s important to plan ahead. Ransomware, for example, is a growing problem for businesses of all sizes. According to SANS Institute, the number of ransomware cases increased by nearly 73% in 2023 . 

To protect yourself, engage stakeholders in your organization to develop comprehensive plans for both business continuity and disaster recovery. Consider investing in technology solutions that are designed with resiliency in mind.

At Pure Storage, for example, we’ve designed our products around what we call a cyber-resiliency architecture . Pure Protect™ //DRaaS , for example, is an on-demand disaster-recovery-as-a-service solution that simplifies DR by enabling you to recover critical systems to the AWS Cloud in just minutes while maintaining full custody of your own data at all times. Purity//FA , the software heart of our FlashArray ™ solution, offers always-on data protection and lightning-fast replication. Our Evergreen//One ™ storage-as-a-service offering comes with a first-of-its-kind ransomware recovery SLA .

Pure Storage can help you fast-track your BCP and DRP readiness with solutions designed with native cyber-resiliency capabilities. Learn more about our data protection , ransomware , and business continuity and disaster recovery solutions today, or contact us to discuss your unique requirements.

Written By: Pure Storage

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More From Forbes

Technology’s role in business continuity: tips for tech leaders.

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The technology so many of us use for work and daily tasks is often so reliable that it comes as almost a shock when a service or tool isn’t working. But whether due to cyberattacks, natural disasters or something else, downtime is likely to hit every company that builds internal and customer-facing technology, and every such company needs to be ready.

It’s natural and logical for tech leaders and their teams to play a leading role in business continuity planning. Below, 20 members of Forbes Technology Council share tips to help tech leaders foster a culture of preparedness and oversee efforts to leverage all available tools to ensure their organizations remain resilient and adaptable.

1. Develop Comprehensive Disaster Recovery Plans

One way technology leaders and teams can support business continuity efforts is by developing comprehensive disaster recovery plans. By identifying potential risks and developing strategies to mitigate them, such as redundant systems, alternate sites and remote access solutions, organizations can minimize downtime and maintain essential operations even in adverse circumstances. - Mohit Gupta , Damco Solutions

2. Take A Holistic View Of People And Processes

Collaboration is key to the success of business continuity. Tech leaders sometimes tend to focus on disaster recovery from a tech perspective, but collaborating with the business—especially the operational risk team—to obtain a holistic view of not just the technology perspective, but also the people and processes perspective, will ensure effective business continuity processes are in place. - Adeoluwa Akomolafe , Wema Bank

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When does bridgerton season 3 part 2 come out on netflix see the release schedule, a storm of 3,000 ukrainian bomblets blew up four russian jets at their base in crimea, 3. consider modern attack trends.

Technology leaders should prioritize a mature security program that considers modern trends of attackers. Adopting mature solutions and combining them with innovative approaches adds an extra layer of advantage to the “trust the known” paradigm. It’s a classic example of the Pareto principle to continuously improve your overall posture and enable your technical teams to move faster. - Aviv Mussinger , Kodem

4. Be Aware Of Advancements That Expand Basic Compliance

I do see that disaster recovery and incident response plans can be important, but I also see that technological advancements, such as threat modeling and risk assessment, have taken basic compliance to a new level. Cyber resilience, effective communication with stakeholders, shared responsibility and continuous learning will contribute to an organization’s overall business continuity posture. - Dan Sorensen , Air National Guard

5. Take A Lead Role In BIA Processes

Technology leaders and teams play a critical role in periodic business impact analysis processes, building competent enterprise architecture models, and ensuring all new planned systems adhere to technology resilience standards. It’s also important to regularly conduct tests and exercises with gap analyses of recovery requirements against actual achievable recovery plans. - Kim Bozzella , Protiviti

6. Identify Critical Datasets

Insight into the data is key! First, tech leaders must convene with data owners to determine which datasets are more critical and which are less so. Then, they must leverage data management solutions that provide key insights into stored data. Priorities can then be set, and the most efficient, cost-effective and flexible options for providing continuity services can be enacted. - Carl D’Halluin , Datadobi

7. Ensure Critical Systems Are Secure And Backed Up

To support business continuity, technology leaders and teams should ensure critical systems and data are secure and regularly backed up and can be quickly restored during disruptions. They should implement reliable and secure remote access solutions, allowing employees to work from anywhere. Close collaboration with other departments helps align IT strategies with overall business continuity plans. - Murali Murugan , Macy’s Inc.

8. Get Involved Immediately When There’s A Crisis

It’s essential for tech leaders to raise their hands and jump in when there is a need, especially during a crisis that causes a business continuity event, such as ransomware. Often, technology leaders are already overwhelmed and understaffed, but every event that triggers a business continuity concern is different, and the company really needs everyone who can help to be involved. - Caroline McCaffery , ClearOPS

9. Invest In Digital Twins And Edge Computing

Technology leaders can boost business continuity by investing in AI-powered digital twins and edge computing. Digital twins enable real-time simulation and scenario analysis for operational resilience. Edge computing complements this by processing data locally, reducing latency and downtime. Together, these technologies help firms predict disruptions and respond swiftly, ensuring smooth operations. - Jabin Geevarghese George , Tata Consultancy Services

10. Implement Cloud-Based Technologies

Technology leaders can champion business continuity by advocating for and implementing cloud-based technologies to address such things as accessibility, scalability and disaster recovery. AI is another powerful tool tech leaders can leverage to strengthen business continuity efforts because it can quickly carry out risk assessment and prediction, increase efficiency and improve accuracy. - Justin Newell , INFORM North America

11. Embrace Disruptions

Prepare your IT strategy to embrace disruptions. A comprehensive global emergency operating plan can provide the tools needed for continuity. Leaders should strategize to establish resilient processes, maintain backups and ensure overlapping expertise for a robust business framework. Balancing technology and reliability will support a contingency plan that secures systems and ensures uptime. - Eric Helmer , Rimini Street

12. Track Informative Metrics To Show Value

Visibility and execution are key to supporting business continuity. Having monthly and yearly metrics based on service-level agreements for system downtimes, understanding the cost impact of downtime, and implementing strategies to address business continuity will go a long way toward gaining business buy-in and successfully executing tactics to ensure long-term business continuity. Showing the business value of the strategies you execute is key. - Buyan Thyagarajan , Eigen X

13. Create A Robust Knowledge-Sharing Culture

It’s about prioritizing the seamless transfer of knowledge as part of a positive learning culture. As employees advance, new team members should be ready to step in. Hard skills are important, but there should also be a focus on cultural and institutional knowledge and how things are orchestrated. That’s where robust frameworks for knowledge-sharing can really shine, putting the focus on people. - Ramesh Ramani , ExpertusONE

14. Focus On Third-Party Dependencies

It’s critical to focus on third-party dependencies. Most companies do a decent job of managing their resilience, but until recently, there hasn’t been an effective way to monitor and manage third-party vendor impact. In our dynamic, connected digital environments, assessing the resilience of third parties is just as important as looking internally for areas of risk when managing business continuity efforts. - Jeffrey Wheatman , Black Kite

15. Strive To Remain Agile And Organized

While implementing robust disaster recovery strategies is a self-evident must, one way tech leaders and teams can contribute to supporting business continuity efforts is by simply being agile and organized. Companies should conduct comprehensive training and awareness programs to educate employees and ensure that everyone is on the same page and aligned in terms of goals and respective procedures. - Yuriy Gnatyuk , Kindgeek

16. Incorporate Automated Alerts

It’s important to incorporate automated alerts to prepare for severe outages. Pairing the alerts with detailed logging provides relevant information on why outages are happening and provides clues as to how to prevent them in the future. - Syed Ahmed , Act-On Software

17. Balance Security And Productivity Through Strong Identity Governance

Tech leaders and teams can support business continuity by creating a balance between security and productivity. This starts with a strong identity governance program, ensuring people have access to what they need to get their jobs done—no more, no less. Access and permissions should evolve seamlessly throughout the employee life cycle so work contributions and security aren’t mutually exclusive. - John Milburn , Clear Skye

18. Focus On Continuous Evaluation And Innovation

Technology leaders and teams can support business continuity by focusing on continuous evaluation and innovation, ensuring technology aligns with evolving business outcomes. Regularly assessing tech infrastructure and processes enables agile responses to changes, maintaining operations and driving growth even in challenging times. - Jo Debecker , Wipro

19. Put A Data Protection, Backup And Recovery Strategy In Place

Businesses rely on data, and the state of data is continuously changing. It is important for technology leaders to have a data protection, backup and recovery strategy to quickly restore the business to a point in time before the failure. To achieve a zero stopgap state, you could also point applications to the backup and just expose read-only or critical features until everything is restored. - Murali Kushal Sha

20. Establish A Genuine Partnership Between The IT Team And The Business

Establishing a genuine IT-business partnership facilitates a better understanding of organizational needs, which aids in disaster recovery planning. By aligning technology initiatives with business goals, teams can develop tailored strategies, ensuring that IT solutions, including robust disaster recovery measures, contribute effectively to business continuity and success. - Geetha Kommepalli , Skillsoft

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International Journal of Organizational Analysis

ISSN : 1934-8835

Article publication date: 17 May 2024

The purpose of this article is to identify the role of cloud computing services in business continuity and disaster recovery plans and delineate responsibilities for their execution. In recent times, there has been a huge upsurge in the usage of cloud service models such as infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service, software-as-a-service and disaster recovery-as-a-service. However, in case of an emergency event or during contract negotiations, a question might arise as to who should be accountable and responsible for the content and execution of recovery plans. The main stakeholders in this scenario are cloud service providers and cloud consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

After a review of academic articles, standards, guidelines and vendor documentation, a proposal for assigning accountability and responsibility for business continuity and disaster recovery plans is presented, based on the RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) matrix. In this regard, a critical information infrastructure protection plan, a disaster recovery plan, an information systems contingency plan and a business continuity plan have been elaborated on in the article.

RACI matrices are presented for three general cloud service models and for three DRaaS models (managed, assisted and self-service). Accountability and responsibilities depend on the deployed cloud service model and the roles of cloud service providers and cloud consumers.

Originality/value

The proposed model for accountability and responsibility assignment provides a guideline for the allocation of responsibilities to roles not only during recovery but also during contract negotiations between cloud service providers and cloud consumers. By delving into business continuity and disaster recovery processes and activities, similar yet nuanced RACI matrices should be developed, as presented in this paper. They need to be customised for the specific context.

• Cloud computing
• Responsibility
• Business continuity
• Disaster recovery
• BC/DR plans

Stamenkov, G. (2024), "Cloud service models, business continuity and disaster recovery plans, and responsibilities", International Journal of Organizational Analysis , Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-12-2023-4127

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Treasury, IRS issue frequently asked questions regarding disaster relief related to retirement plans and IRAs

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IR-2024-132, May 3, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) in Fact Sheet 2024-19 , relating to rules for distributions from retirement plans and IRAs and for retirement plan loans, for certain individuals impacted by federally declared major disasters.

The FAQs relate to the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) provision that provides for ongoing disaster relief for certain distributions and loans in the case of federally declared major disasters. Prior to the changes made by SECURE 2.0, there was no disaster relief allowing these distributions and loans that applied generally for all major disasters.

The FAQs are intended to assist individuals, employers, and retirement plan and IRA service providers, and they are divided into four categories:

• General information
• Taxation and reporting of qualified disaster recovery distributions
• Repayment of qualified distributions taken for the purpose of purchasing or constructing a principal residence in a qualified disaster area
• Loans from certain qualified plans
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I give my financial planning clients 3 money rules — but I break 2 of them all the time

Paid non-client promotion: Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate investing products to write unbiased product reviews.

• I always tell my financial planning clients to keep an emergency fund — but I don't keep cash on hand.
• My investment allocation is weighted heavily toward higher-risk investments.
• Even though I don't follow all my own rules, I always save at least 25% of my income.

As a financial planner and owner of a wealth management firm, I work to ensure our clients have the highest probability of achieving their long-term goals.

That often means giving specific, exact advice on what they must do (and avoid). We've worked with enough clients to have certain guidelines and heuristics we know work for increasing net worth and wealth … so much so that I follow these rules myself.

Most of the time, anyway. While I follow my own advice nine out of 10 times, there are some big rules that financial advisors give all the time that I happily break — and one that I follow without exception.

1. I don't keep an emergency fund

Our general guideline for clients is to keep three to six months' worth of expenses in cash on hand as an emergency fund .

We recommend keeping that money in a highly liquid vehicle, like a high-yield savings account or money market account. Your priority for your emergency fund should be access and safety, not returns.

But I'm almost allergic to keeping cash on hand! I want to funnel most of my available dollars into investments for long-term growth, or back into my business so that it can generate more revenue. I don't keep much cash on hand that isn't earmarked for a specific use in the next few months.

I take the risk of having limited cash on hand for a few reasons. The biggest is that I simply have a high risk tolerance. But I also feel confident in my situation even without a formal emergency fund because:

• I own my business, so have more control over my income than someone who works for one employer. Even if revenue dropped, it's unlikely my personal income would go to $0 overnight in the same way it could if I worked for a company that could lay me off at its discretion.
• My wife and I do have some cash in the bank. It's set aside for various savings goals connected to future spending (like a travel fund and a "date night" fund). If an emergency comes up, we can pull from these cash pools and then work to pay them back later.
• I have access to easy-to-liquidate assets, like I Bonds . I could generate cash relatively quickly in a true emergency (although I'd give up some interest that I otherwise could have earned by doing so).

2. I invest more aggressively for my age than standard advice suggests

If you Google "what should my stock-to-bond allocation be," you might see a general rule of thumb suggesting to subtract your age from 100 to get to the percentage of your portfolio to keep in equities.

I'm 44, so this guideline would have me set up with something like a 60/40 portfolio. Most of our clients, who are also in their 30s and 40s, have portfolios allocated from 60/40 at the very conservative end to 80/20 on the more aggressive end.

However, my portfolio has a 90/10 allocation. I have a much more intricate understanding of market risk and the impact of market downturns. Therefore, I can take more risks because I'm confident that I can comfortably stay in my seat through inevitable market volatility and drops.

I made the choice to optimize for as much growth as possible, because I also know I still have a relatively long timeline between now and when I plan to start tapping portions of my portfolio. That means I not only have the risk tolerance for a more aggressive allocation but also the capacity to take the risk as I have time to ride out the short-term market highs and lows.

The rule I refuse to break: Save (at least) 25% of gross income

I urge my financial planning clients to prioritize their savings and investments. I do the same with my own personal finances. The rule I always keep — no matter what — is to contribute at least 25% of my gross income to investment vehicles designed for long-term growth. That includes a mix of 401(k) accounts, IRAs , and taxable brokerage accounts.

My No. 1 priority in managing my money is to create wealth that will support me and my family now and well into the future. My wife and I want to ensure our own future financial security, and also provide our daughter with more financial stability than we had as kids.

There are various actions I can take to accomplish this goal, but the one that I feel most confident in — and the one that is most under my control to influence — is how much of our household income we put toward building our net worth via our investment portfolios.

Setting aside 25% of household income is non-negotiable for us. My wife and I build our budget around our commitment to this savings rate; what we can spend is determined by what's left over after we save.

Most rules are there for a reason. They help guide us, keep us (or others) safe, and help us understand how to navigate what could otherwise be a chaotic mess with no reliable way to know what to do in certain situations.

But rules can also unnecessarily limit us or slow our progress toward our specific goals. Context always matters, and helps inform when we need to toe the line — and when we should feel free to confidently break the rules.

Watch: 6 simple investing tips for beginners

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CNX plans $1.5B hydrogen fuels plant at Pittsburgh airport, but wants federal tax credit to build it

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Natural gas producer CNX Resources said it plans to build a $1.5 billion facility at Pittsburgh’s airport to make hydrogen-based fuels, but only if President Joe Biden’s administration allows coal mine methane to qualify for tax credits that are central to the Democrat’s plan to fight climate change.

The proposed facility has the backing of Pittsburgh-area labor unions, which hope to fill thousands of construction jobs, and top Pennsylvania officials, including U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. But it is likely to face scrutiny from clean energy and climate change activists.

The announcement comes as Biden’s administration decides how to tailor billions of dollars in tax credits in a massive effort to build out a hydrogen industry to be a cleaner alternative to fossil fueled energy and slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

CNX said the facility would remove a potent greenhouse gas from the atmosphere — methane vented from coal mines — and blend it with natural gas to produce enough hydrogen-based airline fuel to supplant almost all of the jet fuel consumption at Pittsburgh International Airport.

“We want to produce our gas here, use it here to solve complex problems and this is one of those that addresses a really hard problem to solve: decarbonizing aviation is a challenge,” said Ravi Srivastava, CNX’s president of new technologies.

CNX’s partners include the airport and KeyState Energy, which is building a facility in northern Pennsylvania to produce hydrogen from natural gas.

Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council, called it the “most significant energy project” in years in a region where many boosters have hoped a natural gas boom would reindustrialize an economy battered by the collapse of coal and steel.

Climate change activists don’t want coal mine methane and other fossil fuels to qualify for the tax credits.

They don’t like coal mine methane escaping into the atmosphere, but producing hydrogen from fossil fuels, instead of from carbon-free electricity, would undermine the purpose of the entire hydrogen program to displace fossil fuels, they say.

“I fear that if we take this path, we’ll look up a decade down the line and see we’ll have just poured hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into something that is not clean and does not move us in the right direction,” said Julie McNamara, a senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Lobbying is heavy over the final rule, giving Biden a political hot potato in a premier battleground state with fewer than six months until November’s election.

The Treasury Department hasn’t said when it will publish a final rule, and nothing may happen before the election.

A final rule could determine how qualifying hydrogen projects must calculate their emissions and direct billions of public tax dollars on a sliding scale. Qualifying projects with the lowest emissions scores would get bigger tax credits.

As part of that, the department could determine whether a project can use coal mine methane as a feedstock. The federal government considers methane capture to have a negative emissions score, which helps lower the emissions score of a project that also uses natural gas a feedstock.

CNX could draw natural gas from below the airport and it has the rights to capture methane from coal mines in northern Appalachia.

Methane from operating and shuttered coal mines is normally vented straight into the atmosphere. Capturing it requires expensive equipment and there are no regulatory requirements or incentives to capture it.

The tax credit, however, makes methane capture economically viable as part of a project “that is checking all the boxes when it comes to economy, jobs and climate that the law was intending to check,” CNX’s CEO Nicholas DeIuliis said.

The project isn’t financially viable without a tax credit to price the aviation fuel competitively, CNX officials said.

The draft regulation for the tax credits — part of Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022 — was published in December. At the time, the Treasury Department said it anticipated a final rule would allow “hydrogen production pathways” using coal mine methane.

Administration officials estimate the hydrogen production credits will help the U.S. produce 50 million metric tons of hydrogen by 2050.

Hydrogen is being developed around the world as an energy source and can be made by splitting water with solar, wind, nuclear or geothermal electricity, yielding little if any greenhouse gases.

Most hydrogen today is made from natural gas. About 10 million metric tons of hydrogen is currently produced in the United States each year, primarily for petroleum refining and ammonia production.

Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter .

Cost of living help and a future made in Australia

Investing in a future made in australia.

Investing in a Future Made in Australia and the skills to make it a reality

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Attracting investment in key industries

Making Australians the beneficiaries of change

A Future Made in Australia is about creating new jobs and opportunities for every part of our country by maximising the economic and industrial benefits of the move to net zero and securing Australia’s place in a changing global economic and strategic landscape.

The Government’s $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia package will help facilitate the private sector investment required for Australia to be an indispensable part of the global economy.

For more information refer to the Future Made in Australia fact sheet [PDF 438KB]

Better deploying capital in priority areas

The Future Made in Australia package will realise Australia’s potential to become a renewable energy superpower, value‑add to our resources and strengthen economic security by better attracting and enabling investment in priority areas. The Government will create a Future Made in Australia Act and establish a National Interest Framework that identifies priority industries and ensures investments associated with them are responsible and targeted.

The Framework will have a focus on industries that contribute to the net zero transformation where Australia has a comparative advantage, and where Australia has national interest imperatives related to economic resilience and security.

Strengthening and streamlining approvals

This Budget provides a faster pathway to better decisions on environmental, energy, planning, cultural heritage and foreign investment approvals.

This includes:

• $134.2 million to better prioritise approvals for renewable energy projects of national significance, and support faster decisions on environment, cultural heritage and planning approvals.
• Working with the states and territories through the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council to accelerate electricity grid connections.
• $20.7 million to improve engagement with communities impacted by the energy transition and accelerate the delivery of key energy projects.
• $15.7 million to strengthen scrutiny of high‑risk foreign investment proposals, enhance monitoring and enforcement activities and support faster decisions.

The Government will also encourage foreign investment by providing refunds of 75 per cent of application fees for unsuccessful competitive bids.

Promoting sustainable finance

The Government is committing $17.3 million to mobilise private sector investment in sustainable activities. This includes extending Australia’s sustainable finance taxonomy to the agriculture sector and developing a labelling regime for financial products marketed as sustainable.

The Government will also examine opportunities to improve data quality and provide $1.3 million to develop and issue guidance for best practice transition plans.

Making Australia a renewable energy superpower

Powering australia with cheaper, cleaner, more reliable energy.

Australia’s potential to produce abundant renewable energy is a powerful source of comparative advantage. To realise this, the Government is unlocking more than $65 billion of investment in renewable capacity through the Capacity Investment Scheme by 2030.

This Budget helps Australians benefit from cheaper, cleaner energy sooner by investing $27.7 million to integrate consumer energy resources like batteries and solar into the grid.

The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard will save Australians around $95 billion at the bowser by 2050 and reduce transport emissions.

Unlocking investment in net zero industries and jobs

This Budget accelerates growth of new industries by establishing the $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund and delivering a 10‑year extension of funding to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. It also delivers the $44.4 million Energy Industry Jobs Plan and $134.2 million for skills and employment support in key regions.

The Future Made in Australia package establishes time‑limited incentives to invest in new industries. The Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive will make Australia’s pipeline of hydrogen projects commercial sooner, at an estimated cost of $6.7 billion over the decade. This Budget also expands the Hydrogen Headstart program by $1.3 billion.

Boosting demand for Australia’s green exports

The Government is making it easier for businesses and trading partners to source low‑emissions products by building better markets and product standards for green products.

This Budget provides $32.2 million to fast‑track the initial phase of the Guarantee of Origin scheme, focused on renewable hydrogen, and bring forward the expansion of the scheme to accredit the emissions content of green metals and low‑carbon liquid fuels. The Government is also working closely with trading partners to identify opportunities to drive greater supply chain transparency and better market recognition of high environmental, social and governance standards in the critical minerals sector.

Realising the opportunities of the net zero transformation

Australia is committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and is developing six sector plans covering:

• electricity and energy
• agriculture and land
• the built environment.

This Budget continues investment in effective emissions abatement, including through $63.8 million to support emissions reduction efforts in the agriculture and land sector.

The Government is also investing $399 million to establish the Net Zero Economy Authority and support the economy‑wide net zero transformation. This Budget also invests an additional $48 million in reforms to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit scheme and $20.7 million to improve community engagement.

Strengthening resources and economic security

Backing a strong resources sector.

The Government is investing $8.8 billion over the decade to add more value to our resources and strengthen critical minerals supply chains. This Budget establishes a production tax incentive for processing and refining critical minerals at an estimated cost of $7 billion over the decade. It commits up to $1.2 billion in strategic critical minerals projects through the Critical Minerals Facility and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, and pre‑feasibility studies for common user precincts.

This is in addition to $566.1 million to support Geoscience Australia to map all of Australia’s critical minerals, strategic materials, groundwater and other resources essential for the transition to net zero.

Manufacturing clean energy technologies

The Government is committing $1.5 billion to manufacturing clean energy technologies, including the $1 billion Solar Sunshot and $523.2 million Battery Breakthrough Initiative. These investments will be delivered by ARENA.

Strengthening supply chains

To support the delivery of the 82 per cent renewable energy target, the Government has formed the National Renewable Energy Supply Chain Action Plan with states and territories. The Government will invest an additional $14.3 million working with trade partners to support global rules on unfair trade practices and to negotiate benchmarks for trade in high quality critical minerals.

Digital, science and innovation

Investing in new technologies and capabilities.

The Government is investing $466.4 million to partner with PsiQuantum and the Queensland Government to build the world’s first commercial‑scale quantum computer in Brisbane.

The Government will undertake a strategic examination of Australia’s research and development (R&D) system with $38.2 million invested in a range of science, technology, engineering, and maths programs.

The Government is providing $448.7 million to partner with the United States in the Landsat Next satellite program to provide access to critical data to monitor the earth’s climate, agricultural production, and natural disasters.

Modernising and digitising industries

This Budget commits $288.1 million to support Australia’s Digital ID System. A National Robotics Strategy will also be released to promote the responsible production and adoption of robotics and automation technologies for advanced manufacturing in Australia.

Reforming tertiary education

The Government is committing $1.6 billion over 5 years, and an additional $2.7 billion from 2028–29 to 2034–35 to reform the tertiary education system and deliver Australia's future workforce.

This includes $1.1 billion for reforms to university funding and tertiary system governance.

Over $500 million will be provided for skills and training in priority industries and to support women’s participation in these sectors.

The Government will set a tertiary attainment target of 80 per cent of the working‑age population by 2050.

Supporting students on placements

The Government will establish Commonwealth Prac Payments (CPP) for students undertaking mandatory placements. From 1 July 2025, the payment will provide more than 73,000 eligible students, including teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers with $319.50 per week during their placements.

Felicity is a full‑time student receiving Youth Allowance, living by herself. She is studying a Bachelor of Nursing and must stop paid work during her mandatory prac placement. During her prac, Felicity receives $712.05 per week from the Government including: $319.50 of CPP, $285.55 of Youth Allowance (YA), $103.50 of Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) and $3.50 of Energy Supplement.

Felicity receives $351.55 a week more than she would have in 2023 before indexation and the changes to YA, CRA and CPP in the current and 2023–24 Budget

Broadening access to university

From January 2026, needs‑based funding will provide per student funding contributions for under‑represented students. The Government will also provide $350.3 million to fully fund university enabling courses and increase pathways for prospective students to university.

Skills pipeline for priority industries

Skills and training for Future Made in Australia industries

The Government will expand eligibility to the New Energy Apprenticeships Program to include work in the clean energy sector, including in construction and advanced manufacturing. This will provide access to $10,000 incentive payments and support our target of 10,000 new energy apprentices.

The Government will commit $30 million to turbocharge the VET teaching workforce for clean energy courses and $50 million to upgrade and expand clean energy training facilities.

The Government will invest $55.6 million to establish the Building Women’s Careers program to support women’s participation in key industries including clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

Supporting apprentices and building the construction workforce

The $5,000 support payments to apprentices in priority occupations will be maintained for another 12 months to 1 July 2025, up from $3,000 in the absence of any changes. Employers of these apprentices will receive a $5,000 hiring incentive, up from $4,000 in the absence of changes. This will provide certainty to apprentices while the Strategic Review of the Apprenticeship Incentive System is underway.

The Government will also invest $88.8 million to deliver 20,000 new fee‑free TAFE places including pre‑apprenticeships in courses relevant to the construction sector. The Government will provide $1.8 million to deliver streamlined skills assessments for around 1,900 migrants from comparable countries to work in Australia’s housing construction industry.

Strengthening our defence industry capability

An integrated and focused approach to defending Australia

The Government is investing an additional $50.3 billion over ten years to implement the 2024 National Defence Strategy to meet Australia’s strategic needs.

Overall funding for Defence will reach $765 billion over the decade. Defence’s Integrated Investment Program has been rebuilt to create a focused Australian Defence Force, accelerate delivery of priority capabilities, and provide certainty to grow Australia’s defence industry. This includes funding for the Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet and establishing a guided weapons and explosive ordnance manufacturing capability earlier.

The Government is reforming Defence’s budget to support the National Defence Strategy and delivery of priority capabilities.

Developing defence industry and skills

Industry development grants funding of $165.7 million will also help businesses to scale up and deliver the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities, which include continuous naval shipbuilding and sustainment, and development and integration of autonomous systems.

The Government is providing $101.8 million to attract and retain the skilled industrial workforce to support Australian shipbuilding and delivery of conventionally armed, nuclear powered submarines. This includes a pilot apprenticeship program in shipbuilding trades and technologies.

Investing in civil maritime capabilities

The Government is providing $123.8 million to maintain and enhance civil maritime security capabilities. This includes $71.2 million to increase the Australian Border Force’s on‑water response and aerial surveillance capabilities.

Securing Australia’s place in the world

Strengthening relationships and simplifying trade

A stable, prosperous and resilient Pacific region

The Government is delivering over $2 billion in development assistance to the Pacific in 2024–25. This includes the Australia‑Tuvalu Falepili Union.

Investing in our relationship with Southeast Asia

Following the launch of Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, the Government is committing $505.9 million to deepen ties with the region.

Australia recently celebrated 50 years of partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). At the ASEAN‑Australia Special Summit, the Government announced a range of new and expanded initiatives, including a $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility to boost Australian trade and investment.

Simplifying trade

The Government will abolish 457 nuisance tariffs from 1 July 2024, streamlining $8.5 billion in annual trade and eliminating tariffs on goods such as toothbrushes, fridges, dishwashers, clothing and sanitary products.

The Government will provide $29.9 million to coordinate trade simplification and deliver the Digital Trade Accelerator program, and $10.9 million to enhance the Go Global Toolkit to support exporters.

The Government is expanding the Australia‑India Business Exchange, diversifying trade and helping more Australian businesses build commercial ties with India and across South Asia. There will be $2 million to support Australian agricultural exporters entering the Chinese markets.

Support for small businesses

Helping small businesses

This Budget’s Small Business Statement reaffirms the Government’s commitment to deliver a better deal for small businesses, with $641.4 million in targeted support.

For more information refer to the small business fact sheet [PDF 0.98MB]

Improving cash flow

The Government is providing $290 million to extend the $20,000 instant asset write‑off for 12 months. There will be $25.3 million to improve payment times to small businesses and $23.3 million to increase eInvoicing adoption.

Easing cost pressures and reducing the administrative burden

This Budget provides $3.5 billion of energy bill relief, including rebates of $325 to around one million small businesses.

The Government is reducing the administrative burden for small business by abolishing 457 nuisance tariffs and delivering $10 million to provide additional support for small business employers administering the Paid Parental Leave scheme.

Supporting confidence and resilience in the small business sector

This Budget invests a further $10.8 million in tailored, free and confidential financial and mental wellbeing supports for small business owners.

The Government is providing $20.5 million to the Fair Work Ombudsman to help small businesses understand and comply with recent workplace relations changes.

There will be $3 million to implement the Government’s response to the Review of the Franchising Code of Conduct, including remaking and enhancing the Code, and an additional $2.6 million to support more small businesses through alternative dispute resolution.

A more resilient Australia

Preparing for the future

The Government is preparing Australia for future droughts and heightened risk of natural disasters.

Disaster resilience and preparedness

The Government will provide $138.7 million to improve Australia’s response and resilience to natural hazards and disasters. Support includes: funding for the National Emergency Management Agency to supply communities with vital goods, equipment, and temporary accommodation during an emergency, aerial firefighting capability, and mental health support. This is in addition to the $11.4 billion previously committed for Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements for the states and territories.

The Government is establishing a pilot program for Australia’s Strategic Fleet. These vessels will improve Australia’s capacity to respond and support communities and supply chains during crises.

Preparing for drought and climate change

This Budget provides $174.6 million from the National Water Grid Fund to deliver new water infrastructure projects that will enhance water security, boost agricultural production and help drought proof regional communities.

The Government will provide $519.1 million from its Future Drought Fund to help farmers and rural communities manage the impacts of climate change and prepare for future droughts.

This investment will build the drought resilience of more farmers like Victorian cropper Ed Rickard.

The Fund supported Ed in developing a better farm business plan, which identified his need for weather stations and soil moisture probes. It also helped him implement a succession plan that ensured his farm’s long-term viability.

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