By tomorrow, Hurricane Irma is expected to make landfall in Florida. With storm surges predicted up to 11 feet, the storm could cause catastrophic damage to those in its wake. While the storm’s path is still progressing, Florida has declared a state of emergency to prepare for the worst.
Residents in the foreshadowed impacted areas are encouraged by officials to stock up on all necessary provisions and to move to safer grounds.
After securing one’s personal safety and home, it’s also important to take into account the impact Irma could have on local businesses. If time allows, preparing one’s business to weather the storm will help those impacted get back to work following the storm.
Over the past few days, the Digital Edge Disaster Recovery Team has been virtually migrating its southern-most clients with onsite systems to virtual servers in the New York Area. Digital Edge is ensuring that business data, backups, applications, and server images are safely stored off-site. If requested, Digital Edge can coordinate the process of moving any critical systems to our Cloud environment.
These virtual servers will safely run during the entire storm. Digital Edge can assist clients prepare pre-built emergency messages to keep your customers and employees informed (closed, open for business, etc) so they can be quickly deployed to your website following Hurricane Irma’s departure. It is highly recommended someone out of the path of the hurricane has access to update your website, and the Digital Edge team is here to fill that role.
The Digital Edge Disaster Recovery Team also urges businesses in Irma’s path to do the following:
- Ensure all workstations/laptops are elevated off of the floor and powered off;
- Wrap any computer equipment that is directly near a window with light plastic; Do not wrap equipment that is online – heat buildup may cause damage or fire;
- All surge protectors should be put in the off position where applicable- Systems without a surge protector should have a surge protector added or the equipment should be unplugged from the wall;
- Place a thin plastic barrier over any critical network racks and secure them with painter’s tape; Do not place barrier over equipment that is online – heat buildup may cause damage or fire; Plastic should be removed before equipment is brought back online;
- Ensure your disaster recovery team members have updated contact information and role assignments.
- Ensure your disaster recovery team shares with staff members what method(s) of communication will be available after the disaster; We highly recommend email as it will be far more reliable and accessible to most people;
- Generate and secure the following items in an offsite trusted fire/water proof safe or bank deposit box:
o Digital pictures of physical assets/inventory for insurance purposes on USB stick
o Printed report of physical assets/inventory
o Printed copy of disaster recovery plan
o Printed report of employee contact information
o Printed report of all vendor contacts and account numbers (power, water, gas, fire alarm, hvac, EIN, insurances, etc)
o Printed copy of critical usernames and passwords such as banking, insurance, web host, etc
If you feel that your business is in need of Digital Edge’s Disaster Recovery assistance in preparing for Hurricane Irma, please contact the Digital Edge team.