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A business continuity plan is one that ensures continuous delivery of products and services to clients, especially after critical operations have ceased, as often happens after a major disaster.

How exactly does a business continuity plan work? This system is put in place to ensure that if your operations are disrupted for any reason, there are mechanisms in place to get things back up and running as quickly as possible. Years ago, this was not considered necessary by most business owners. However, with the number of severe disasters America suffers each year, it has become essential.

From one end of the nation to the other, disasters do strike. California now experiences more severe fire seasons than ever, not to mention earthquakes. All coastal areas, especially in the south and along the east coast are prone to floods and hurricanes. The mid-section of America is known as “Tornado Alley.” There’s seemingly nothing we can do to stop Mother Nature, but we can be prepared. As a business owner, this is a must.

The Role Played By IT Organizations In A Business Continuity Plan

Nowadays, most businesses depend wholly on their computer and networking systems for everything from customer service and shipping to billing.

Any type of disruption to your business operations can be costly in more ways than one. Often, the disruption turns out to be an IT issue. Certain industries are even more vulnerable. These include health organizations. They provide critical services to their patients. The whole nature of healthcare is providing excellent patient care. That means on-time, dependable services. In this sector, lives literally are at stake, so a business continuity plan is vital.

A Business Continuity Plan includes setting up, running, and maintaining backup systems for all data and applications.  Most include onsite and offsite data backup and recovery initiatives.

Important Aspects Of An Effective Business Continuity Plan

Any plan must be well-thought-out and well-orchestrated so that it works correctly and quickly to restore access to files and apps. Below is a simple checklist with guidelines about how to create a Roadmap to your own customized Business Continuity Plan.

• Conduct A Business Impact Analysis

This establishes the core mandate of the business. From this analysis, a business owner can derive the importance of the most critical services offered by that specific organization. The impact analysis should also be aimed at discovering the internal and external impacts that any disruption would cause. Once the critical services and products have been identified, they must be put on a priority list. The priority list should be based on other factors such as additional expenses, loss of revenue, and even intangible losses.

Some of the identified threats in a business include natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and tornados depending on the geographical area where your business is situated. Other general threats include fires, cyber-attacks, and even terrorist attacks. Each of these may have different impacts and so the recovery plan must be able to address each of these threats separately.

• Designing The Continuity Plan

In designing your plan, you must also identify the specific person or department that will be responsible for its implementation in that area. In most instances, the IT department will be a big part of this, whether you’re using in-house personnel or IT managed services. Public Relations might also come in handy, especially in the event of a natural disaster. It’s important to keep your customers or patients calm during the crisis. Customers need and want to know what’s going on. Try to be as transparent as possible. This can help you avoid the loss of customer trust and brand reputation.

• Facility Resources

What resources have been set aside to help in the recovery process? Your budget should include an allocation for unexpected negative events. Whether your office is flooded because of a plumbing leak, or the roof is torn off by high winds, you need monies in your budget allocated for just this type of incident.

For instance, cyber-crimes are becoming almost commonplace. In the case of a cyber-attack, are you prepared? What would you do if today, one of your employees clicked on a bad link and a ransomware virus was downloaded into your computer system? Do you have IT experts on staff who would know what to do? Are you prepared to pay a ransom of thousands of dollars to restore access to your database? Cyber-crimes are occurring with much more frequency. They can bring a business to a standstill in a moment’s time.

Testing Your Business Continuity Plan

This is the phase that comes immediately after implantation of the plan itself. Testing your plan is so important. You may have missed something critical during the planning stages. Now is the time to find out where the gaps are. This is your golden opportunity to fix those gaps and address all those issues. If you wait until a real disaster strikes, it could end up costing a lot more money to deal with the evolving circumstances.

Why Executives Work With IT Consultants

Tragedy strikes when least expected. Those who survive are the ones who adequately prepared for every contingency. Most business owners are simply not experienced enough to do all this legwork and planning on their own. It takes a specialized team of people to design, implement and test a Business Continuity Plan. That’s why so many of today’s savvy business executives hire IT consultants who specialize in this field.

A good IT consultant will come in and asses your current IT infrastructure. They will help you understand what your strengths and weaknesses are. They will put together a plan that fits your budgetary requirements. In the end, you should be able to institute a much stronger business continuity plan for less money when you work with a professional IT consultant. They bring value to the process of planning for the unforeseen.

An IT manager’s work can be difficult at times. This is mostly because of the ever-dynamic nature of technology. There is always something new and better being developed every day. It is the work of the IT manager to know the best technology to use, one that functions on a 24-hour basis and also one that’s easy to manage by the employees. He must ensure that his employer stays current on the specific technology that delivers the desired results.

Change is a good thing, but not when it concerns IT managers. They are usually cautious of introducing changes that might cause chaos. So then how will they be able to overcome their fears and embrace change that will improve their employees’ working environment? Here are some useful steps to help IT managers improve their workplace, maintain modern standards, and give all employees a better work experience.

Introduce a Digital Task Force

This can be done through the labor model which gives employees the flexibility and freedom to work from just about anywhere. This, of course, depends on the specific tasks and what projects employees must get done each day. The only problem is that different employees have different preferences. Some prefer more advanced technologies because that is what they are accustomed to in their personal lives. Others would like to work with old-fashioned systems. This only makes it harder for IT supervisors to find solutions that work for everyone.

Using one software package in the workplace is no longer effective. The IT department should work alongside departmental heads in order to manage ever-changing demands in the digital workplace. They should work through and adopt technology that will boost employee productivity. Technology must be user friendly as well.

Combat Resistance

This is an obvious challenge because it is not easy to introduce something new and then get 100% acceptance. Some employees will still try to resist the changes, not because it isn’t beneficial, but because of the fear that they might not be able to master the new technology. The best way to deal with resistance is to get the employees involved right from the start, way before the organization makes an investment in the new technology.

Communication is also an essential part of the whole process. Discuss the advantages of the new technology and the positive impact it will have on them and how it will improve their work place in terms of productivity. Ask for feedback. Look to department supervisors to provide reports when they encounter any problem.

Security

Keeping a system secure is not an easy task, especially with the increased reports of data breaches. Limiting the access points to sensitive data is one way of ensuring that your system is protected. The employees should be made to understand the need to balance between easy access and the data breach threats. They should also be taken through an awareness training touching on accidental exposure, insider theft, phishing emails, and attacks like ransomware and malware. These coupled with other training will ensure that there is better service delivery and that necessary security measures are in place.

Systematically Deal with the Tech Stack

Tech stack is the overwhelming number of applications or software that are no longer useful but still remain installed in a computer system. There are always new upgrades made, but rarely does anyone follow-up and get rid of the software that is outdated. These software programs could be used as the backdoor entrance for cyber thieves. IT managers should always ensure that these “doors” are closed and locked.

There should be constant communications between the chief technology officers and the department’s chief information officers with a view to streamline the sharing of data and information on cloud-based platforms. The Cloud ensures that users are able to access documents, make edits to them and any changes are automatically updated ensuring accuracy across the board.

Show Your Importance

Today, software updates are easy to do since more technology is moving to cloud. Even with that, the IT manager still needs to ensure that new software is beneficial to the users and that it is a worthwhile investment. A lot of research should be conducted to ensure that the new technology is yielding the desired results.

Wrap Up

When it comes to the introduction of new technology in the workplace, IT managers should treat this like a team effort long before it is introduced. Throughout the necessary training for employees, to the follow-up process once the technology is in place, everyone needs to be included. A savvy IT leader will take strategic moves to make changing over to newer systems a positive process for everyone.

The All-New Surface Go: What You Need To Know

There’s no shortage of gizmos and gadgets to choose from in today’s tech world, but not all are created equal, and some are exceptionally unique, like the new Microsoft Surface Go. The Surface Go is the tech giant’s way of combining the Surface Pro’s premium features with affordability and portability – two of the most sought-after features for laptop and tablet owners, understandably. Touted as the “smallest and most affordable Surface yet,” the Go is one of Microsoft’s most exciting new ventures, and with its August debut fast approaching, there’s plenty to know about this trailblazing 2-in-1.

Those familiar with the Microsoft Surface line may have a solid idea of what’s to come in the Go. Here are a few of the most interesting aspects of the Microsoft Surface Go, including specs, price, and all the things you can do with this piece of gadgetry in tow.

What Does It Look Like?

One of the Go’s most endearing qualities is certainly its tiny size. Like its predecessor, the Go is a tablet that attaches firmly to Microsoft’s Type Cover keyboard. Measuring at 9.6 by 6.9 inches, it’s just 8.3 mm thin and weighs only 1.15 pounds. About the size of a composite notebook, with a 10-inch diagonal display that’s sufficient for everything from business to entertainment, the Go is primed for accessibility, above all.

With a gadget made for accessibility comes a need for durability. The Surface Go boasts a magnesium enclosure and an ultra-bright, high-resolution touchscreen bonded with durable Gorilla Glass. And with respect to the design of the Go, convenience is key. It comes complete with a kickstand that extends to 165 degrees, as well as support for a stylus pen, which can magnetically attach to the tablet.

There are also plenty of ports to keep you productive all day. There is, of course, the charging port, but in addition, you’ll find a USB-C 3.1 for data and video, as well as a MicroSD card reader and a headphone jack.

What Can The Surface Go Do?

When designing the Go, in addition to portability and affordability, Microsoft aimed for productivity. They sought to create a device that would be sufficient for both work and play. From Office apps for business and school to Netflix and Hulu for entertainment, Microsoft’s team kept a wide variety of users and uses in mind to create a gadget that checks all the boxes.

When it comes to display, the Surface Go doesn’t skimp. Its high-resolution PixelSense Display is custom-built and can support the Surface Pen with exceptional pressure sensitivity, low latency, low pen parallax and precision. All of this results in near-perfect note taking, design, and drawing.

Easy on the eyes but bold enough for vibrant videos, art, and photos, the Surface Go isn’t short on aesthetics in the least. Even the Surface Pro’s screen capabilities are unique. When in portrait mode, the screen is designed to fit the scale of school textbooks. While in landscape mode, pages will appear side by side, mimicking a paperback in your hand.

Power-wise, despite its small size, the Surface Go is nothing to scoff at. It gets its power from a 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y, which allows for up to nine hours of battery. Other features include Windows’ Hello face recognition camera, which will be used for bio-authentication, plus two front-facing speakers and a sufficient 8-megapixel rear camera to capture high-quality photos.

How Much Does The Surface Pro Cost?

Compared to the Surface Pro, the Go is a steal, and the most affordable Surface ever. When it ships in early August, it will cost $399. With this, users will receive 64 gigabytes of internal storage, plus 4 gigabytes of RAM. More costly options include one with 256 gigabytes of storage and an impressive 8 gigabytes of RAM, as well as an LTE version, which will be available later in 2018.

If you’re looking for add-ons, you’ve got options in a Type Cover keyboard and stylus pen. The Surface Go has the option of a signature Type Cover, custom-made with design features that make for a superb typing experience. Ergonomic key pitch, excellent key travel, and high precision tuning are a few other details you’ll find in the Type Cover. There is also the option to connect your device to the Surface Mobile Mouse for further convenience.

Wrap Up

With an ever-growing number of laptops, tablets, and other tech gadgets to choose from, Microsoft’s taken big steps in creating something more affordable. Hot off the heels of the success of the Surface Pro, the Surface Go is the answer for those who want an inexpensive, but tech-heavy tablet computer. If you’re among the crowd looking for a sleek combination of looks, function, and savings, the Surface Go may be right up your alley.