In the minds of many executive officers, business continuity is a back-burner objective, reduced to a bare-bones strategy that rarely meets the full needs of the organization. As the enterprise environment becomes more heavily reliant on digital assets and high availability to power productivity, the central role of BC is indisputable, regardless of the industry in which a firm may compete.
It’s time for leaders to shed their outdated perceptions of continuity as a bottom-tier strategic element and bump up its prioritization to reflect a new age of business resilience. In order to help decision-makers open their eyes to these pressing needs, here are three lesser-known reasons why BC should be a top priority in every organization.
1. Compliance is tough on continuity: Every tuned-in business leader knows that regulatory systems such as PCI DSS, HIPAA and the mandates of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have cracked down on procedural standards in operations of all types. Without strong continuity measures that ensure the protection of these processes, these decision-makers run the risk of violating critical regulations and earning themselves a black mark in their industries, as noted by IT Online. Complete backup, archiving and restoration methods are vital for remaining compliant.
“It’s time for leaders to shed their outdated perceptions of continuity.”
2. Employees demand backup too: Today’s workforce is pretty tech-savvy, and staff members will generally figure out a way to leverage the digital tools they need, even if IT departments don’t give them the green light. According to Cloud Pro, a Cloud Cipher study found that 41 percent of employees download SaaS backup tools without the authorization of their superiors, meaning that continuity is top of mind at all levels of the organization. Rather than risking the uncertainty that accompanies these unofficial applications, leaders should build strong BC plans from the ground up.
3. Recovery is only a piece of the puzzle: As a recent Axcient study noted, over 40 percent of organizations back up their vital databases and applications as a disaster recovery measure, but what about all the other components of continuity that tend to get overshadowed by IT? Employees need clear-cut action plans and notifications that keep them in the know during a crisis, as well as dedicated workspaces for in-person collaboration during periods of office inaccessibility. These are the forgotten elements of continuity that need to be brought back to the forefront if companies intend to bounce back from a disaster quickly and completely.