Understanding business continuity

If there’s one thing the last few years have shown, it’s that disasters can strike at any moment. The COVID-19 pandemic was a harsh lesson that despite even the best strategies, “business as usual” can be upended in an instant. And pandemics aren’t the only disruptions businesses might face. From on-site emergencies to natural disasters and economic downturns, there’s no shortage of disruptive events.

But preparation is the key to a speedy recovery. Though it might not be possible to predict a crisis, businesses can—and should—always plan for the unexpected. This means choosing the right cloud communications provider for the tools your business needs.

Think back to the earliest days of the pandemic when the lockdowns began. Some organizations— namely enterprises and large companies—were wellpositioned to transition to remote work and continue collaborating. Others weren’t so prepared, forcing them to rush the deployment of ad hoc solutions and processes that weren’t as effective.

Business continuity is the preparation for this sort of sudden, unexpected upheaval. A business continuity plan encompasses all of the strategies that must be put in place to mitigate any type of crisis, with welldefined and tested tools and processes ready to go.

For example, if one of your business’s locations was flattened by a natural disaster, how would the employees who worked there continue working? Will they have the right tools? How quickly can your business restore its critical functions? A business continuity plan addresses those issues while maintaining a service level.