As we watched the harsh winter storm hit parts of the United States these past few weeks, we first think about how this adversely affected so many people and how we can help, but we also try to reflect on what lessons we should learn. Pipes in homes and commercial buildings burst because they were never winterized. Your IT network is a lot like the pipes of your business. It’s important to ensure you are taking the right steps to winterize your IT network. Having a proper disaster recovery plan in place with your Managed Service Provider (or MSP) will protect our business against unforeseen situations.
Whether you are a business owner or an IT decision maker you know the importance of due diligence. We caution against making statements such as “it will never snow here,” or “there is no way we will ever be hacked” because they leave you underprepared. You should be discussing with your MSP about what the latest threats are, how you can protect yourself against them, and make sure you have a plan in place in case something goes wrong.
Let’s take the pipe analogy to the next level. What happens if a real pipe bursts in your data center? The water would ruin your servers and equipment, let alone all of your company’s data, applications, and customer information that sit on them. Do you have a co-location for data backup and a process to initiate that when something goes wrong? Is your MSP similar to Wincourse where they are watching your back and monitoring threats and proactively addressing them? Make sure your IT partners are a part of your Disaster Recovery plan, because like we mentioned before, your people will be affected as well, yourself included. In those times you should be focused on taking care of your team first and let us take care of fixing the pipes.
There are a variety of threats known and unknown that can hit your network, and in times of vulnerability you can imagine some threats do start to increase. Make sure you have active monitoring set up and the ability to address those threats.
You should also be prepared for the sunny days as well. Wincourse can help you there too. What happens when your business starts to pick back up and you need to increase your website’s network capacity? Maybe you have the ability to build your own co-location for backup, and need some assistance building it. You might need a vacation and want to have an MSP you trust enough where you can relax and enjoy your time off.
Let us help you winterize your network and help you come up with a Disaster Recovery plan to ensure you have business continuity in all types of weather. It starts with discussing where your business is at today. Book a free consultation by reaching out here.