Here in Minnesota and throughout the Midwest, winter weather is becoming more unpredictable. Blizzards and snow are still a major concern, but in recent years we’ve seen record cold temperatures, long cold snaps, and late-season storms. These increasingly-common weather events are often dangerous, and can cause power outages and physical damage to homes and businesses.

Therefore, it is essential that companies understand these risks, and create solid business continuity plans to mitigate them. We’ll share a few tips, courtesy of Mission Critical.

Establish an Emergency Response Team

The most important step companies must take to ensure business continuity is to determine which employees will handle the emergency response. Create a team and assign specific roles and duties to each person.

Create Different Plans for Different Scenarios

Because there are so many different winter weather scenarios, it’s a good idea to create business continuity plans for every conceivable situation. One strategy is to plan for each of the National Weather Service’s winter weather warnings. (Winter Weather Advisory, Winter Storm Watch, Winter Storm Warning and Blizzard Warning.) This will help the team easily decide how to proceed, and will help employees and stakeholders remain informed.

Ensure Contact Information is Up To Date

This seems like a no-brainer, but it must be said: make sure all employee and stakeholder contact information is up to date well ahead of any winter weather.

Use Multiple Modes of Communication

Because winter weather can cut off telephone lines or Wi-Fi, it’s essential to send information and alerts through multiple channels. Inform employees of these modes of communication well in advance so they know where to get the information they need.

Permit Two-Way Communication

While it is essential to relay updates to employees and stakeholders, it is also important to allow them to communicate back. Not only will this help ensure that all are safe, but it will also allow managers to gather feedback about business operations, storm conditions, and more. And permitting employees to ask questions will go a long way in maintaining stability and confidence throughout the storm.

If a winter storm strikes your company, are you prepared? Are your data, applications and networks protected against disaster? If not, give Vaultas a call today.

Because ransomware, hacks and natural disasters tend to happen less frequently this time of the year, it’s the perfect time to review your BC-DR plans, and prepare budgets for next year’s goals and objectives. Contact Vaultas for help in reviewing and adjusting your plans and budgets to meet your company’s goals and objectives.

Vaultas is a premier provider of IT solutions, providing data storage and backup, disaster recovery and business continuity services, hosting, colocation, cloud storage and more. Our data centers are located in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Alexandria and St. Cloud, MN, and Milwaukee, WI. Contact us to get started.