IT leaders constantly test and install new technologies to ensure their company moves forward. They keep their network online and ensure that sensitive business data is always secure. Taking care of these day-to-day IT tasks can be overwhelming and demanding.

As a result, more strategic initiatives like Business Continuity (BC) planning get less attention. And failure to prepare for disasters can have a detrimental impact on your company. It can cause data loss, technical downtime, and major financial crises.

So, in this article, you’ll learn what business continuity is and its importance. You’ll also get some insights on why downtime is a nightmare in the tech world and how you can reduce it with the cloud.

What is Business Continuity?

Business continuity is a set of plans that ensures that your business can continue operating in the event of a disaster. Whether a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, or a human disaster, such as a cyber-attack, occurs, your business should be able to continue operations as usual.

So, business continuity acts more like a resilience strategy than a solution to immediate issues.

Why Business Continuity is important

While some companies don’t develop a continuity plan, it is one of the most important components of recovery. It is critical because it helps you protect your customers. It also ensures the normal operation of your company, no matter the present situation. 

Downtime as a Nightmare in Tech Industry

It doesn’t matter the size of your company. Downtime could be your worst nightmare because it can cause big financial losses. In 2021, Amazon lost US$34 million after experiencing an hour-long outage. The same year, Alibaba lost billions of dollars during a 20-minute outage. Also, Meta lost over $100 million as a result of the downtime.

These financial losses don’t just happen to massive corporations like Alibaba, Meta, and Amazon. It is a nightmare scenario that can happen to anyone doing business.

If you know little about downtime, it is when information technology systems fail to operate as usual. In most cases, downtime is unanticipated. It occurs when there are cyberattacks, system failures, or peak traffic times on IT infrastructure.

While you should fret about downtime, there are ways to prevent it.

How Can the Cloud Reduce Downtime?

Customers expect you to deliver 24/7 uninterrupted services. So, it would be best if you thought of ways to reduce disruption. Below are four proven ways to guard your company against outages with the cloud.

● Implement a redundant multi-cloud environment

You can easily minimize downtime if you distribute the workload across many geographical locations. Instead of risking your business with a single point, adopt multiple clouds. That will increase flexibility to adapt to any unexpected change.

● Focus on security and compliance

You’ll leverage a wide range of operational and commercial advantages with the cloud. But, you need to know that hackers cause cloud outages by exploiting vulnerabilities. Considering that, use the right security tools to safeguard your company.

If you want an effective way to reduce downtime with the cloud, choose a cloud service provider that offers wide-ranging security and compliance abilities.  

● Examine cloud outages

Never get tired of testing because that’s how you prepare for an emergency. Simple system updates, insider attacks, and malicious external attacks can result in cloud outages. So, prevent this by always testing.

● Re-inspect your communication strategy

Consider having a tested communication plan in place in addition to checking for cloud outages. Ensure that this plan fits in with your business continuity and disaster recovery efforts. This is crucial because, in the event of an outage, you should be able to communicate with your employees, customers, and other stakeholders. Most importantly, don’t forget to renew this communication plan quarterly or annually based on your business needs.

Would you like to try cloud services for your business continuity? Our DWS offers the best cloud solution to help your company perform better during unforeseen disasters. Reach us out through WhatsApp to inquire more about this service!