Business continuity continues to become a process that every business should and are considering. But at a national level, how are some of our major institutions faring at preparing for cataclysms that could put them out of commission? Reports are out that many financial institutions like futures and securities firms aren’t as prepared with business continuity as they should be. An advisory from the Securities and Exchange Commission Office tells us that there may still be too much complacency out there. And it says far too much about our national infrastructures not preparing for things that are sometimes impossible to imagine.
But some companies are prepared, such as Cedar Realty Trust.
Learn first hand from Brenda Walker, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, how Continuity Centers kept their business running as the SEC deadline loomed during Superstorm Sandy.
Why Is There Complacency in Financial Firms?
It’s possible that financial firms are behind on business continuity because many of them haven’t been affected by a natural disaster yet. Even when Hurricane Sandy literally shut down New York City in the fall of 2012, most of the financial districts were closed for the weekend when it occurred. The night Sandy hit Manhattan, rumors initially flew that Wall Street’s floors were flooded. While flooding was everywhere, the insides of Wall Street being flooded turned out not to be true. Nevertheless, you have to wonder what would have happened had such a thing transpired.
Would the entire financial industry come to a halt if something like that happened to major financial firms in major cities?
Here at Continuity Centers, we take business continuity seriously and can easily show financial firms what to do in getting prepared for disaster. What are the options for the financial industry in making sure they don’t lack in disaster contingency plans?
Remote Access
In the age of the cloud, a financial firm can keep running with employees working from other locations if the company headquarters is destroyed. With our workgroup disaster recovery system, that’s done thanks to remote access sites we provide around the country. No financial firm will be at a loss because we provide access to the Internet and phone through every technological means available.
Immediate Access to Data
While natural disasters get all the attention, there isn’t enough attention to the possibility of our financial institutions being victims of cyberterrorism. When the tremendous amounts of data in financial firms get tampered or destroyed in those scenarios, imagine being able to make a phone call and have that data restored in a minute? Here at Continuity Centers, you have that with our cloud backup services.
Testing
The SEC also recommends the above financial firms partake in testing to see how they’d function in the worst case scenarios. Much of this can be done by testing any backup service they use on a weekly basis. However, with our real-time backup services, you can ensure free automated testing on a regular basis without any data disruption. As a further way to prepare.
Whether important financial firms take action or not will remain to be seen. We hope they’ll see as clearly as we have that preparing all businesses for the unexpected is vital to keeping the American economy going. It really doesn’t matter what the size or title of that business is.
Contact us so we can help your own business get prepared for unusual disasters that we never thought could be possible.
Cedar Realty Trust Weathers the Storm from Continuity Centers on Vimeo.