I spent a significant amount of time in January helping a GP practice ensure that their clinical and non-clinical policies were in place and as required before their next CQC (Care Quality Commission) inspection.
A big part of that was ensuring their disaster recovery policy was in place and robust enough handle the building collapsing while the couple who managed the practice were climbing mount Kilimanjaro (and so uncontactable). We looked at remote access to telephone systems, the sister surgery that could see their clients, contact details for all of their staff and regulatory bodies that would need to be contacted, how they could access their patients files, etc.
I have a background in IT, so I know how import it is to back up your important data and know how to locate it in a pinch – especially as a business owner!
But somehow I messed up!
Yesterday I dropped my iPhone face down on the concrete and it now has a half black screen. No problem I thought, I swapped my SIM into a perfectly functioning older model and rushed off to my evening meeting only to discover that my phone is essentially useless without all the apps that I depend on!
Today I discovered that while I have backed up my laptop regularly, I haven’ t backed up my phone and so I am missing photos and contact details for quite a few important contacts. So today has been spent attempting to coax my broken phone to release the images and number (Thank the Lord for Suri!).
I have totally not been following my own advice, so as much as to myself as to you, here’s a little reminder:
Back up all the files on your laptop at least weekly (more often dependent how much activity happens in a week.
Back up to the cloud if you can, if not make sure your back-ups are stored off site.
Ensure that more than one person knows how to retrieve your data.
Back up your phone and tablets regularly.
Document the process, so that it can be actioned in your absence.
The plan is to ensure that should you need to start your business over, you have all the data you’d need to hit the ground running.
Need any help ensuring that you and your team is prepared for an emergency, contact us for a quick chat on how we can disaster proof your business.