What will you do to thrive when disaster strikes?

It doesn’t take a hurricane to destroy your records. It can be a fire, flood or broken pipes. You can also lose vital records when someone destroys the wrong records or purges them too soon.So, what should be included in your business’ disaster recovery plan so you can protect your vital business records?

• Back-ups of key documents: This includes hard copy files as well as digital data and even email messages. If a disaster would strike, would you be able to still provide files for an audit or court case? Consider keeping back-ups in multiple locations so if a disaster affected your office, another copy of your key records would still be safe.
• 24/7 access: Disaster can strike at any time, so you’ll want to be sure that no matter what time of day or what day of the week it is, you can access the information.
• Climate and dust controlled location: When looking for a location to house your most important information, find one that is climate and dust controlled. Also, find a location that has a sprinkler system which uses a powder rather than water. This way, if something triggers the sprinkler system, your records won’t get wet. In addition, make sure the location was built to withstand high sustained winds.
• Secure and controlled access: Find a location that is secured with alarms, security cameras and pass codes where your records will remain safe throughout the document life cycle.

Getting your records organized will help protect your business from damage and loss during a disaster, allowing you to thrive and continue with business as usual.