The majority of work concerning business continuity is done in the planning stage. Businesses need to be sure that they have the technology and cooperation from their staff to quickly resume business operations in the event of a disaster. An important element during the planning stage is conducting a business impact analysis (BIA). A business impact analysis allows companies to quantify the financial aspects of business continuity. This helps them to understand what they need to invest in, as some aspects of business continuity have more financial weight than others. This guide provided by Tech Target includes a definition of business impact analysis and explains why it’s so important. According to the guide, a successful BIA will assist a company in the correct allocation of funds concerning their business continuity planning:

“As part of a disaster recovery plan, BIA is likely to identify costs linked to failures, such as loss of cash flow, replacement of equipment, salaries paid to catch up with a backlog of work, loss of profits, and so on. A BIA report quantifies the importance of business components and suggests appropriate fund allocation for measures to protect them. The possibilities of failures are likely to be assessed in terms of their impacts on safety, finances, marketing, legal compliance, and quality assurance.”

The guide asserts that not all elements of business continuity are equal in importance. One constant that remains true amongst all companies is the significance of data backup. This is due to the amount companies have to lose if their data is destroyed. The financial implications of data loss demand a proper investment in data backup. Cloud computing is a cost-effective service that not only secures data, but also provides companies with quick data restoration in the event of a disaster. With cloud computing, companies can skip out on business downtime and resume their business operations in a timely manner. At GIP Networks, we practice Catastrophic Risk Mitigation in order to give your data the best level of protection. Our data centers are strategically located so that we’ll be ready to support your business in case anything happens. If you would like more information about business continuity, contact us.