The aftermath of a storm can be very chaotic. Between trying to find a friend who will store all of your food from the fridge so it won’t go bad, and buying up every battery-powered fan at Target you can find, it’s inevitable that one or two items will get overlooked. To help make sure you don’t miss anything getting your IT and your business and back up and running, we have prepared this list to help you make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
1. Power and Internet: These are the two most important pieces for your business. If you don’t have power and internet, you won’t be able to run. And unfortunately, the only thing you can do in these situations is wait. If your employees are able to work remotely, you can use that as a solution, but unless you have power and internet at your office, no one should come in to work.
2. Email: As an essential form of communication, you need to make sure your internet is up and working properly. Even if everything looks okay at first glance, make sure to send out a couple of test emails. Also, have other people send you test emails. Once you’ve confirmed that sending and receiving is working, you should be good to go. And don’t forget, if your Outlook isn’t working but your Internet is, you can always use Outlook Web Access.
3. Printers, Scanners, Copiers: Make sure to test each of these devices to ensure they’re working properly. Be sure to check that everyone who needs access to these can use them.
4. Hosted Websites: It is important to make sure that all of your customers can still access your website. Try going to your website from a few different browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome) to make sure that it is still accessible.
5. Phones: Another essential form of communication for most businesses, you need to check on whether or not your phones are working. Be sure to test both incoming and outgoing calls. Also, make sure to try dialing in from a few different providers (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, etc.), to ensure that anyone who needs is able to reach you.
6. Servers: While it is important to check on whether or not these are working properly, we don’t recommend trying to fix them yourself. If you think there is a problem, call your IT support and have them look into it.
7. Backups: Make sure to get in contact with whoever manages your backups to ensure that they are working properly. It is important to know that not only are they still backing up, but that you have a very recent backup you can call up if needed.
Your technology is not much different from your house. After any disaster, you want to review and test everything. You need to make sure not only that you are back up and running the way you should be, but that you are prepared for the next disaster.