Are You Disaster Ready?

Hurricane season is here and the experts foretasted a very mild year.  So far they have been right but we are three quarters through the season.  But that is no reason to slack off of your Disaster Recovery plans for all it takes is just one storm.  Even after hurricane season is over you can still get hit with a disaster ether from mother nature of man made.

Now is the time to re-examine your current DRP line by line to see if there are any potential weak spots and correct those deficiencies.

Let's take a quick look at some of those items that you should address.

Emergency power - battery back ups for PC's, servers, network hardware and telco.  If you have a generator when was it last tested?  If you do not have a generator do you have a plan in place to have one brought in from a provider like Agility Recovery?

Speaking of power, does your staff, or select members know where the circuit breakers are and are they accessible?  You may need to turn off the power in a hurry.

Communications - is your telco system redundant?  Do you have more than one phone line?  Are you using multiple phone providers in case one should fail?  Do you have alternate methods like cell or

A satellite phone should be considered

satellite phones or even a ham radio?  Fax machines are generally on separate lines to begin with, can yours be used as an emergency phone?  Does your plans include using social media?  In a later article I will go into this.

Speaking of communications how up to date are your phone lists?  Any additions or subtractions?  Do you have a phone chain in place to communicate with your staff?  Do you have arrangements to communicate with officials, fire, police and rescue units?  What about vendors, are they part of your emergency communications?

Internet connectivity - how redundant is your internet?  Do you have more than one form like a T-1 and fiber?  Don't forget that in most T-1's the last mile is your phone company regardless of who your provider is and if that central office goes down, you can lose your T-1.  If you use the cloud for all of your data needs, without internet connectivity you will lose access to all of that data.  A second or third line might be something to think about.

Need I mention backups?   Have you tested them by doing a restore?  I used to have a directory containing pseudo data on each server that I used to delete and do a restore for testing.  Do you do the same?  If so when was it last done?

Hardware - are your computers and server imaged for quick restore if a replacement is in order?  Do you have text files with your switch and router settings for quick reinstall?  How fast can you get new hardware?

Fire prevention - do you have enough fire extinguishers and does your staff know how to use them?  Have they been serviced recently?  How are the smoke detectors?  Are the pull boxes on the wall accessible?  Has the alarm system been tested?

Floods - do you have a plan to get critical items off the floor in case of flooding?  Do you know how to turn off the water supply in case a pipe breaks?

Escape routes -  are the emergency exits clear both inside and outside of the building?  Are the doors operating properly ( you would be surprised )?  Is the route to the emergency exits clearly labeled?  Can you find them if the power goes out?  Can people get away from the building in case of fire or flood?

Lighting - how are the emergency lights?  Will they work if the power goes out?  When were they last tested?   Instead of pushing the test button did you pull the power cord to see that they do work?  And how long will the function until the battery is drained?  Are there enough of them around?  Do you have enough flashlights and do they work?  I always had one in my desk and had them attached to the servers plus my iPhone has one.

First aid and medical care - how are your first aid kits?  Do they contain only a few band aids you are

they well stocked?  Are they adequate for your size company?  Does your staff know where they are and are they easily accessible?  Has anyone taken a first aid course?  Do you have a AED in case someone has a heart attack and do you know how to use it?  Taken a CPR class recently?

As long as we are talking first aid, where are your hospitals?  Are any of them trauma centers?  Do you have multiple routes to them in case one is blocked?

Have you reviewed your insurance policies?  Are they up to date?  Will they cover you completely or do you need to add more?  It may pay to talk with your insurance provider.

What about any legal aspects?  What if an employee is hurt or killed?  Something we don't want to talk about but need to.  Are you prepared for any potential litigation that may ensue?  Have you gone over everything with your legal team?

How is your security?  During a storm or other disaster vandals and looters can take advantage of the situation.  How secure are your doors and windows?

Do you know what to do if a shooter enters your building?  Can you get your staff out quickly and safely?  What if it there is no gun but a knife instead?  Do you know what to do?  Don't forget the incident in Oklahoma when a woman was decapitated by a former co-worker in mid September 2014.

What if there is a tornado in the area?  Do you have safe areas to go to in case it strikes?  Again, do you know what to do if one does?

If you have to shelter in, do you have enough supplies, like hygiene items such as soap, paper towels, toilet paper, feminine supplies?  If sheltering in overnight, do you have enough non-perishable food at the ready?  Freeze dried food can last up to 25 years so a small investment can make things bearable for a day or two.  Do you have enough bottled water for your staff?  If you have a water cooler you probably have a few 5 gallon bottles to begin with.

Have simple tools on-hand

Do you have some simple tools available like pliers, hammers both claw and ball peen, vise grips, channel locks, adjustable wrenches, screw drivers both flat blade and phillips, cold chisel and drift punch, and allen keys?  What about duct tape and plastic sheeting or poly-tarp?

Do you or someone know how to remove a door off it's hinges in an emergency?  Or even remove a window safely.  A lot of new buildings have some windows that can be opened with an allen key.

Colocation - do you have a hot site, warm site or cold site that can be used in the event your building is rendered inoperable?  When was the last time you tested it by spending a day working from it?  Do you know all of the routes to get to it in the event one route is blocked?  How fast can you get it up and running?  Does all of your staff know how to get to it safely?

Finally, when did you test your DRP?  Have you gone through drills? Do table top exercises?  Have you done walk throughs?

All of these questions really should be answered any deficiencies should be addressed now before the SHTF, so to speak.

(c)2014 William Lewis