How to Start Building Your Disaster Recovery Plan

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Whether you’re a small business or a growing public company, your investors are most concerned about two things: profitability, and risk management. While businesses predominantly focus on the first, a disaster recovery plan is the best long-term strategy for keeping your brand in place and your company growing.

And as companies rely more and more on technology and stored data to operate, most of that risk is centered around data recovery and electronic failure. Mitigate those risks by forming a plan in advance. Here’s how:

Disaster Recovery Plan
  • Find both the most likely and the most critical risks. A power outage that knocks out local data storage for the day might be relatively unlikely. Additionally, a small enough risk to your overall business. But a storm that floods your office space and ruins your local servers is improbable as it is devastating to your business. Find, document, and assess these risks so you can effectively answer them.
  • Create backup procedures for your data. Most of your critical information might already be online through SaaS like Salesforce or Oracle. However, make sure all of your information is backed up securely in the cloud. Then, your employees can access it during any potential disasters in your physical office space. Thus, so no data is lost. Each department should have a dedicated online portal for their information and critical categories. These include financial records and your company’s tax history, employee information, legal documents specifying entity ownership, and copies of procedures such as your disaster recovery plan.

Not only can disaster strike at any time, investors need to know that you’re reliable and planning for the future. Start to build and implement your long-term disaster recovery plan by dedicating a team to assessing risks. Then, start to store business-critical information with Bluwater Technologies.

Minimize Cloud Migration Failure

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Minimize Cloud Migration Failure

The process of moving a small to medium-sized business to the cloud is unique for every organization.  However, there are some time-tested principles companies can embrace in order to minimize cloud migration failure and resolve issues as quickly as possible.  Companies who are flexible enough to bend or expect the unexpected typically are more successful in their migration to the cloud than those who have an inflexible “win/lose” outlook.

Resist the Desire to Micro-Manage

Those responsible for your technology solutions should have already been scrutinized for their expertise.  Trust the hiring decision you made in the first place and let them manage the project.  There is nothing wrong with a final meeting to review the process, but your technology provider should not need much more than a sign-off signature from you.

Be Proactive

Your tech team should have a comprehensive, organized plan to address potential problems before they happen.  They are experts at brainstorming for “what if” scenarios and how to address them should they occur, and that is why you hired them.

Adaptation is Key, not Blame

Some companies focus on finding someone to blame when something invariably goes wrong in the plan. Rather than focusing on finding solutions.  Don’t be that company.  Instead, focus on creating the kind of environment where value is placed on creative problem resolution rather than pointing fingers.  Users want access to their technology resources as quickly as possible, not gossip about who made a mistake.

Want to learn more about how to ensure a successful cloud migration process?  Contact us.

Simple But Effective Computer Tip – Shut Down Your Computer

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With all the newer gadgets such as tablets, smartphones, personal laptops, and the like, it is often tempting to keep them in sleep mode when not in use.  However, when it comes to using computer equipment on the job, there are some fairly compelling reasons why a nightly shutdown of work-related equipment is a good habit to acquire.  In this post, we will discuss some of the highlights as to why sleep mode is not always ideal. Check out this simple but effective computer tip.

Effective Computer Tip

Computer Processes

Especially with legacy software, there are processes running in the background even when an application is not even open.  Over time, a PC’s memory can get bogged down with all these rogue processes and issues that begin to occur such as computer crashes, operating system lags, and programs that freeze up.  By shutting down your work computer every night, it gives your computer and its memory a clean slate for the next morning.  This reduces program issues and speeds up productivity levels.

Save on Electricity

Rare are the offices that only consist of one or two computers.  Many offices have quite a few PCs and their fair share of printers as well.  It might not save an office much money if they only have one or two PCs to shut down every night, but companies who have more than that will notice significant savings in their electric bill if the entire office shuts down their equipment at night and on weekends.

The average PC uses anywhere from 80 to 250 watts.  If your local utility company charges a modest 12 cents per kWh, then assuming 250 watts for a PC, a company will pay over $20 a month in electricity costs to keep just one PC running 24/7.  Multiply these figures by the number of PCs in your office, add a few printers and some tablets and the total can be quite significant.

Save on Wear and Tear

The cooling fans installed to keep the power supply and CPU from overheating will get a break if users shut down their PC every night and they will last longer.  In addition, although no one should have such a messy workstation that it potentially is a fire hazard, it certainly is possible.  Some users in cramped quarters tend to stack paper, file folders, and other paraphernalia in and around their computers.  Talk to any computer repair person and they will probably have a story about someone who had a PC go up in smoke because their cooling fan overheated.  Having office staff get into the habit of shutting down their equipment every night reduces the chances of fire.

For more information on computer tips to help you work smarter and safer, please contact us.

What Are the First Steps to Creating a Business Continuity Plan?

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Anything from a regional storm to a power outage can shut down your office when you run a small business. Instead of stressing to contact your employees when your phone’s signal is bad and the power is out or trying to arrange for an alternate delivery when everyone else is trying to do the same thing, start creating a business continuity plan before you need it. Here are two of the first steps for keeping your network up and running during a disaster:

Creating a Business Continuity Plan

  • How much power do you need? If you’ve experienced a hurricane, you might have a backup generator or know who in your neighborhood does. Having a separate generator just for your business is great. Ensuring your business can take care of critical steps or be the first online once a storm blows over. Talk to your landlord or electrician to see what type of generator is best for your business needs and your lease conditions.
  • Make sure your data is backed up starting today. Having your information stored in the cloud shouldn’t just be part of a business continuity plan. It should be part of your everyday plan. Having cloud-based backup means knowing your data is securely offsite in case something happens to your local hardware. It also means that you can access information from a secure laptop. Or even your phone if you can’t make it into the office.

There are many other steps to having a business continuity plan in the event of an emergency. Including planning communications, preparing alternate supply chains, and knowing who is responsible for what aspects of the plan. If you want to create a business continuity plan that will help you keep your business running, contact us at Bluwater Technologies to get started.

IT Support In West Palm Beach: Are You Backing Up Your Data?

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Backing up your data is a critical decision to make, regardless of what type of business you are operating. Running your own company is hard enough. You should not have to worry about any added pressure when it comes to data. If you are having a difficult time making the decision about data backup, we want to give you information. We think it can help you choose the best solution for your business.

Backing Up Your Data

Who Thinks They Will Be Hacked?

When it comes to hacking, we all think that it could never happen to us. If your business stores critical and private information, you are at a serious risk of being hacked. If you are ever in a position where your information is compromised, wouldn’t you feel a little better knowing that your data can be recovered because you have it backed up?

For Your Own Protection

Data backup is not just something you need to consider to protect your data against hackers. Data backup is also important because you cannot predict natural disasters or accidents that will cause physical damage to your equipment. When you take the right steps to ensure that your information is stored properly, you will have your own insurance on the customer and employee data you are responsible for.

If your business were to be hit with a disaster, how much time do you think it would take for you to fully recover? If you do not have the proper data backup, your business may not be able to fully recover. Unfortunately, some businesses never recover. We do not want that to happen to your business.

If you have made a decision regarding backing up your data, contact us today for more information.