Have a plan, in case the earth moves

I turned my attention to this article shortly after the ground stopped moving on Sunday afternoon.

Earthquakes, which I enjoy about as much as I enjoy electronic music, are a good reminder of (a) the power of nature and (b) the need to look ahead and have a business continuity plan.

When you are restricted in your ability to operate in any capacity, completing work and delivering to clients/customers can become an enormous challenge. So it's good to have a plan, especially when it comes to data and key information.

I remember being on an extremely important project when the star of my team, who was halfway through his work, injured his hand rock climbing. Because his expertise was in financial markets, it threw our entire team into a spin. We managed that situation because we were able to bring in another expert at short notice to finish the work and, when the team member eventually returned, we encountered the miracle of voice recognition software. Essentially, he dictated all of his findings straight into his computer.

Plan B in that case was documented in our project plan - and we could quickly move to get things moving again and keep our client happy.

It needs to be the same for you and your business. What do you have in place to manage the unexpected consequences of an event or loss of resource?

Most small businesses haven't considered what they would do should they be constrained in delivering service. Some have insurance, and that's great, but some events or issues cannot be insured for.

We have friends in Christchurch who could not get into their places of work for weeks after the major earthquakes. While an earthquake could be insured for, the delay in accessing files, computers and other important materials couldn't. A business continuity plan considers such an eventuality - it also takes account of things such as minimum operating standards to alternative sites where your business could operate, should your current location be inaccessible.

As we have seen in Christchurch, "she'll be right" and "number 8 wire" can only go so far. The businesses that thrived in those situations were the ones that were prepared.

As well as risk management services, we advise our clients on data security and storage. We use "cloud" technology, and this will soon be the sole data storage mechanism for our entire group.

I'm reminded of a Disney cartoon that we, as kids, saw several times. It features a grasshopper who chastises his neighbour ants for storing food for the winter, stating that he has plenty of time (essentially he thought there wasn't a great deal of risk). Well, winter came early and, like many negative events, caught the grasshopper by surprise.

To avoid a similar experience in your business, we can help you write and test a business continuity plan tailored to your needs. You'll perform better for it - call Zenith Solutions on 021 244 2421.