Sometime between now and November of this year, Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don and Emily could introduce themselves to hurricane-prone areas of the United States. If those introductions extend all the way down the list of named storms to Vince and Whitney, watch out, because the 2023 hurricane season will have surpassed forecasts — and likely caused major disruptions across wide swaths of the U.S.
In fact, communities and businesses across the country are likely to experience some kind of climate- or weather-related disruption regardless of how many storms the 2023 hurricane season actually yields. It’s incumbent on business leaders to proactively plan for all types of extreme weather events and natural disasters that today seem increasingly inevitable.
Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides — these events pose severe risks to the communications infrastructure that keeps a business operating. There is a growing urgency for organizations to create detailed plans for how they will protect that infrastructure so they can continue serving their customers and communities when they’re needed most.
Most organizations today are expected to operate in “always on” mode with 24/7/365 network connectivity. And many operate in places where the risk of disaster is very real. For them, the stakes are too high not to have a formal business continuity and/or disaster preparedness plan in place. A recent study from the Harvard Business Review found that 90% of businesses impacted by Hurricane Harvey in Texas reported losing revenue because of the 2017 storm. In most cases, the losses reached five figures, a sizable hit especially for smaller businesses. But disaster-related network disruptions can hurt larger enterprises as well. For them, the average revenue impact of an unplanned application outage is estimated at more than $400,000 per hour, according to an IBM Global Services study.
An organization becomes virtually invisible if its network and the apps attached to it aren’t functioning. Based on my experience helping businesses plan for the big network communication “what-ifs” that loom ever larger nowadays, here’s a quick primer on preserving connectivity, security, collaboration should disaster strike:
Step 1: Risk assessment. Conduct a formal risk assessment to determine how well protected your IT infrastructure is from disruption related to a hurricane, natural disaster or extreme weather event. While an organization can perform the assessment internally, many opt to enlist a third-party expert for an outside perspective.
Step 2: The plan. Based on what you learn from the first step, develop a formal plan that describes in detail how your organization will handle various likely crisis scenarios, including the fixes and tools it will rely on to keep the business running. Organizations that already have a plan in place should update it regularly in light of shifts in its risk profile, strategic priorities, etc.
Step 3: Network modernization (if necessary). Does your organization depend on an outdated network infrastructure such as MPLS and on-premises hardware that exposes a single point of communications failure? If so, it may be particularly vulnerable to disruption. The best counter in this case could be to move to a cloud-based network such as SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network), which can bounce between broadband and ethernet in real time to preserve connectivity and keep apps running for customers and employees.
Step 4: Find a network IT ally (AKA a managed service provider). Even if your IT team has the know-how and the deep bench to troubleshoot and fix network disruptions during a natural disaster, it can be worthwhile to have another first responder in such an event. Many of today’s cloud-based network communications offerings are backed by an expert managed service provider who can fill that first responder role, swinging into action during a disruption and freeing your people to focus on other high-priority business continuity issues. Many organizations find that to be a wise investment, not only for the added support but for the protection it provides around their technology investments.
Step 5: Network security upgrades. Cybercriminals tend to pounce when organizations are at their most vulnerable, and relying on aging security hardware and software can increase that vulnerability. To counter, more organizations are embracing cloud-based network and data security strategies like SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) and SSE (Security Service Edge), which provide the multilayered defenses that on-premises, appliance-based security measures don’t.
Step 6: Create resilience across multiple communications channels.During a disaster, old-school PBX phone systems and legacy technology can prove extremely susceptible to disruption. With a cloud-based unified communications platform, organizations can preserve communications from any device, over multiple channels (voice, video, messaging, etc.), so connections with customers and suppliers remain open and employees can keep working.
Step 7: Ensure your contact lifeline remains intact. Here’s another area where a managed service can prove its value: A cloud-based contact center service can help to ensure your customers, suppliers and others can reach you during a disruption.
Step 8: Simulate.Once you’ve taken the necessary preparedness steps, it’s time to stress-test your plan and network by simulating a disaster, using simulation software or tools available in the marketplace. Because the only way to ever be fully prepared in the case of a disaster is to put the plan in test-drive.
Last year alone, the insurer AON recorded 37 billion-dollar weather-related disasters. As the cost and frequency of disasters rise, so does the risk they pose to your business. The best way to counter that risk and preserve network connectivity is with proactive planning.
