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One of the great things about living in the Pacific Northwest is the lack of catastrophic natural disasters; they really don’t happen all that often.  The down side is complacency that dulls our awareness of the need to properly plan for potential disasters.  The reality is that a wide variety of unforeseen disasters that could occur and wreak havoc on your business, such as a power outage, a backhoe tearing out cables in a construction site, pipes bursting and causing flooding and water damage, fires, computer viruses, or servers failing.  Every business needs a complete disaster recovery plan in place that has been tested and can be implemented quickly.

The first step is to determine how long your network can be down before it critically affects operations.  Some businesses may not be able to handle any down time while others could continue to function with little interruption for a day or two without their network.

By definition, a disaster recovery plan is a set of step-by-step instructions for recovering systems and networks so that they can continue normal operation under abnormal circumstances.  The primary purpose of these processes and procedures is to minimize your network’s potential down time.  With a complete disaster recovery plan, you should identify critical IT systems and networks, prioritize their recovery, and describe the steps needed to recover them.   A list of all the suppliers and experts needed to recover a disrupted system should also be included.

Here are some specific items to include in your disaster recovery plan:

Identify the Critical Needs- List what needs are critical in order for your business to continue operating.  Take a big picture look at what would need to happen in case of an emergency and define a budget.  If your plan exceeds your budget, then it cannot be properly implemented.

Identify Redundancy and Failover Potential- Ensure key systems have access to a secondary power source so they can remain up and running. Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) or generators are common solutions to keeping your systems operable during power outages.  If your business primarily utilizes applications hosted on the internet, you should also have two forms of internet connection through two different providers.  That way, if one connection goes down you have an alternative connection to fall back on.

Identify Backups- Every business has different types and varying amounts of data that need to be backed up.  Your company’s unique data use will drive how regularly you should be backing up and how much storage space you require.  The following are examples of data types that need backup:

• Applications
• Storage/Files
• Operating Systems
• Financial Data
• Databases
• Website Data

Identify Backup Locations and Backup Frequency- It’s recommended to backup your data to a remote location.  If a disaster happens at your office and the backup is located at your office, then it won’t do any good.  Determining how often your data needs to be backed up is another necessity.  Some types of data should be backed up hourly, whereas others may only need backing up once a week.

Investigate Alternate Sites- Locate an alternative site that would be able to support the size of your organization, network, and phone system in the event you are no longer able to use your own.

Test- If you have a disaster recovery plan but it hasn’t been tested, you won’t know the flaws in it. Give your plan a test-run to ensure it is effective.

Maintenance- The disaster recovery plan should be a living document.   Update it regularly so it stays current with any system changes your company makes.

Don’t be like most companies and wait till after a disaster happens to think about a disaster recovery plan.  Consult your IT expert today for help creating a plan that will save you time, money, and frustration in the event of an unforeseen disaster.

We can all agree it’s easier to keep existing clients than to bring on new ones.  So why not do everything you can to make your customer’s experience with your company great each and every time?   Service-based companies are built on relationships.  Success begins with an attitude of treating your customers the way you would want to be treated.

Your employees are the face of your company; invest in equipping them to be the best representatives of your values.  Since just one bad interaction can permanently damage a client’s perspective of your company, it’s important to cultivate a culture of customer-focused service.  You begin by hiring people who will naturally fit into this culture and carry out your core values.  But it should go further by education and training to equip your staff to give your clients the service they’re looking for.

Here are a few tips for your employees to implement on a daily basis:

Be true, genuine, and honest- People do business with people they like and trust.  Being enjoyable to work with and providing trustworthy results is key to building loyalty among your clients.  And we all know that loyal clients are invaluable to the success of your business.

Don’t talk down- Your client is working with you for a reason, and typically that reason is to seek your expertise in a particular area.  You know something they don’t, and they are asking for your help.  So when your client comes to you with a question that is simple and clear to you, don’t belittle them or make them feel stupid for asking.  They are paying you to answer questions and do things they can’t do.  Answering their questions in a way that makes them feel empowered with knowledge will leave a long-lasting impression that will keep them coming back to you as the approachable expert.

Under promise and over deliver- Make sure you don’t fall short of your client’s expectations.  Though easier said than done, being clear upfront with what you can do for your client will help their expectations to be reasonable.

Respect client feedback- It’s hard for a company to grow if you don’t know what you do well or what you could improve on.  When you receive comments from clients, good or bad, be respectful and let them know you appreciate it.

Value your client’s time- We are all very busy people with a lot on our plate.  So when your client requests something from you, answer them promptly and provide a timeline of when you expect to deliver on their request.

We have all experienced bad customer service.  It only takes one negative encounter to turn you away from a business forever.  And it doesn’t stop there: people are more likely to talk about a bad experience than a good one.  With social media becoming more popular every day, one disgruntled customer’s complaint can go viral very quickly and create a negative perception of your business.  So, wouldn’t you agree it’s more effective to keep your existing clients happy? Start today by creating a culture of service that will keep your customers coming back!

Email is a crucial business tool and we rely on it for many reasons.  People tend to forget email is NOT a secure way to send confidential information. Anyone who gets their hands on your email can read it. However, there are solutions for companies if it’s vital to your business to be sending confidential information.

Secure email is when you send information over the internet that is encrypted and only the intended recipient can read.  The most common type of encryption is the public key encryption which uses two kinds of keys: private and public. The two keys form a pair when combined and allow the recipient to read the encrypted information. The private key is kept secret on the sender’s computer or server and is used for decryption.  The public key is used for encryption and is given to anyone who wants to send encrypted information to you.

You should use secure email when sending client confidential data, medical records, credit card information, social security number, passwords, or any other types of information that you don’t want getting into the wrong hands. Not only can information in emails be intercepted and read they can be modified in transit before they reach their destination. You are seeing secure email used more heavily in industries such as health care, accounting, legal, and financial.

There are solutions that make sending secure emails as easy as the push of a button. These services allow you to use your existing email address to send and receive encrypted emails by using a plug-in that integrates with Outlook. The recipients don’t even need to purchase a license in order to view or reply securely. Other services allow you to send information via a secure web-based email.

Talk to Fixed Fee IT today to find out more about what secure email service is right for you.