Coastal technology planning
Build a written business continuity plan for your office
CloudCentric sets up battery backups, failover internet lines and rehearsed data recovery so coastal businesses keep working through hurricane season.
Parts of a plan
Continuity covers people, places and your business technology
CloudCentric manages the technology side of backup and disaster recovery. Business leaders decide the people and place strategies, using state and federal guidance to build a complete continuity plan.
- 1
Roles and communication rules
Staff need to know exactly who does what and who gets called first during an emergency.
- 2
Alternate operating locations
Work happens remotely or at a second site if the office is closed or evacuated.
- 3
Technology recovery order
Server backups, internet lines and phone systems come back first in a chosen sequence.
Keep critical operations running
Coastal offices rely on different systems. Continuity planning protects the operations your staff and clients need most.
Select your industry
Operations to protect
Technology responses for four kinds of interruption
CloudCentric prepares network, internet and data systems for short outages and major site closures.
Pick an interruption
Business operations maintained
Technology standing ready
Example setups for a typical coastal office network.
Follow six planning steps for business continuity
Ready.gov describes six steps for building a plan. CloudCentric brings technology facts to support business decisions.
- 1
Prepare
Organize a continuity team to manage business disruptions. Leaders respond promptly when they plan ahead for staff, customers and local officials.
- 2
Define
Establish warning and facility shutdown procedures using South Carolina Emergency Management Division guidance.
- 3
Identify
List systems and what each depends on. Decide which applications and hardware must come back first in time for business recovery.
- 4
Develop
Write strategies to restore operations. Plan alternate operating locations, backup suppliers and payroll continuity for the team.
- 5
Teams and tasks
Assign responsibilities for communication. Designate out-of-town numbers and establish an exact calling tree to reach employees.
- 6
Test
Rehearse a recovery order. CloudCentric tests failovers by pulling the main line and simulates the outage for battery backup.
Steps: Ready.gov.
SeasonAtlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30. Most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October, with a September 10 peak according to the National Hurricane Center.
Evacuation zonesSouth Carolina publishes evacuation zones through Know Your Zone and an online Hurricane Guide at hurricane.sc. hurricane.sc
Sources: National Hurricane Center, South Carolina Emergency Management Division.
Questions about continuity planning
- What is a business continuity plan?
A business continuity plan is a written plan for keeping the business working, or getting it working again, after something interrupts it. People, places, suppliers, communication and technology are the parts.
- How does it differ from a disaster recovery plan?
Business continuity is a written plan covering people, places and technology. Battery backups and second internet lines keep a site running through short outages. Disaster recovery covers losing a site or systems entirely, recovering cloud to cloud on Microsoft Azure.
- Will CloudCentric write the whole plan?
Business leaders decide the people side, including operating locations and communication rules. CloudCentric sets up and tests the technology side, building server images, internet failover and battery backups to support decisions.
- What should I do before June 1?
Review warning and facility shutdown procedures before the Atlantic hurricane season begins. Document a recovery order and confirm backup batteries and cellular internet lines are installed.
- How often should a plan be tested?
Rehearse the recovery order regularly to find gaps a written plan hides, like a missing admin password or vendor phone number. Medical practices must test and revise plans to meet HIPAA rules.
- Where does CloudCentric work?
CloudCentric serves businesses across Charleston and the Lowcountry, covering Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach, Kiawah, Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head and Savannah.
Prepare your business technology for hurricane season
Call (844) 422-7000 or book a walkthrough to build a business continuity plan for your coastal office.