02-15-22 | Blog Post

Disasters and Your Data: How to Prepare for Blizzard Season

Blog Posts

Disasters and Your Data: How to Prepare for Blizzard Season

 

The 2022 winter season is upon us, and it’s proving to be wrathful one! Just look at the major winter storm earlier this month that affected more than 110 million Americans! It’s no wonder why Punxsutawney Phil recently scurried back in his den, predicting 6 more weeks of winter…

If your business is located in the Midwest or Northeast, the prospect of catastrophic damage from a winter blizzard can’t be ignored. While especially salient in these states, let’s not forget the disastrous events in Texas last year, when winter storm Uri left close to 4.5 million homes and businesses without power. Oh, and we can’t leave out the “snowmageddon” of 2014 that crippled Atlanta. Snow and ice can wreak serious havoc on your business, even if you’re located in a southern state, and often comes with little warning. Just like your physical assets, your digital assets are crucial to operating a business in today’s economy and are also at risk during severe winter weather. These assets need to be safeguarded just as relentlessly as physical assets are. If you don’t have or aren’t familiar with your business continuity strategy, Otava can help you define and implement one. Reach out to us at [email protected].

What You Can Do to Prepare

It’s important to assess risks pertinent to your local region; for instance, if your business is located near the east coast, heavy snowfall could pose a serious threat, whereas if you’re located further inland, wet sleet can freeze over and pose a dangerous hazard, restricting transportation and downing power lines.

After assessing the risks that pertain to your business, focus on developing a plan that will protect your business from, or at least mitigate, the effects of severe winter weather. Elements of this may include the actions your employees might take in case they are unable to contact you or one another, or which business functions will be prioritized if resources are limited after the storm. It’s important to evaluate your business’ facilities and data centers before the storm approaches, as well as to have a plan for how you will restore functionality or repair any damage after the storm has passed. This strategy may also include a plan to work remotely if employees are unable to commute to work due to snowy conditions.

Investing in cloud infrastructure before a blizzard or hailstorm is an effective safeguard in ensuring your data is protected regardless of the effects of the storm, with the added benefit of protecting your data from other unexpected occurrences that are possible in today’s digital economy (think cybercrime, power outages, or even theft). By maintaining geographically separate copies of data, such as storing a backup in a data center several hundred miles away from your primary location, you increase the redundancy of your IT infrastructure and ensure that your business is able to resume operations swiftly after a natural disaster. For example, for our customers located throughout the Gulf region and East coast, Otava maintains data centers in Dallas, Atlanta, and New York.

Bottom Line

Because of the nature of weather patterns sweeping across the US in the winter season, your business may not have time to adequately prepare for catastrophic damage from a severe blizzard, especially on short notice; it’s important to remember that loss of data or prolonged downtime can be as disastrous to your business as a major storm itself. By developing a strategy outlining the steps your business will take leading up to and following a winter “snowmageddon”, you can ensure that the amount of downtime you experience, and therefore lost revenue, is kept as low as possible. Otava’s offerings in Backup and Disaster Recovery can be part of your readiness strategy, providing you peace of mind that your data will be protected and that critical business operations will be able to continue. Pair that with our 14 geographically diverse locations around the world and low latency network, and you can rest easy this winter knowing your critical data is safe.

Let’s Get In Touch

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