Are You Prepared?

September is National Preparedness Month. There is a hurricane brewing in the Atlantic, wildfires in the West and a volcano spewing in Hawaii. Would your business data be safe if any of these events occurred in North Carolina?

Here are some tips from the Federal Trade Commission on protecting your valuable business data in an emergency:

Conduct an information inventory.

While the skies are sunny, take an inventory of the data critical to your business – customer lists, invoices, personnel files, tax records, etc. For a home-based business, it may be a matter of one computer. For other companies, consider what’s on your network, smartphones, office desktops and laptops, and employees’ home computers. Don’t forget paper records in cabinets and file rooms. Knowing what you have and where you have it is the first step toward creating a preparedness plan.

Streamline what you retain.

Some companies’ record keeping is the informational equivalent of that last warehouse scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Of course, there is material you must maintain. But to prepare for an emergency, it’s easier – and less expensive – to protect a smaller amount of data. (A sensible plan to securely dispose of electronic files and paperwork you no longer need has the additional benefit of helping your company start with security.)

Back up essential information.

We’ve all heard data disaster stories: file cabinets floating down a flooded Main Street or confidential records