{"id":5233,"date":"2022-07-12T10:19:05","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/?p=5233"},"modified":"2022-07-12T10:19:05","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:19:05","slug":"how-to-prepare-your-business-for-inevitable-disasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/how-to-prepare-your-business-for-inevitable-disasters\/","title":{"rendered":"How to prepare your business for inevitable disasters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Close-upIt could be a fire, flood, hurricane, tornado or cyberattack. It might strike tomorrow, next week, or next month. Although it\u2019s impossible to predict the exact details, sooner or later disaster will inevitably strike and disrupt your business.<\/p>\n

With catastrophes increasing in frequency and severity, companies today face a difficult battle to keep their doors open as extreme weather and cybercriminals threaten to derail operations. In addition to grappling with pressure to stay competitive through digital transformation and customer experience enhancement, business leaders must also brace for data breaches, storms, flooding, wildfires and other calamities that could destroy their hard work.<\/p>\n

As the world becomes a more dangerous place, it\u2019s critical that you take steps to prepare for the future calamities that will inevitably threaten to shut down your company. Here\u2019s why investing in disaster recovery matters now more than ever.<\/p>\n

Disasters on the rise: Businesses face increasingly intense threats<\/h2>\n

This summer alone, the U.S. has already suffered heat waves, wildfires and catastrophic flooding, according to the article \u201c\u2019Historic\u2019 weather: why a cocktail of natural disasters is battering the US<\/a>\u201d from The Guardian. As the world gets warmer, these events will become even more common due to \u201ccompound extremes,\u201d the meteorologist Dr. Andrew Hoell of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s (NOAA) physical sciences laboratory told The Guardian.<\/p>\n

For example, recent flooding in Yellowstone resulted from torrential rainfall coinciding with snow melting due to high temperatures. Going forward, we can expect more destructive floods, fires and other intense crises to disrupt our lives.<\/p>\n

In 2021 alone, 20 weather\/climate disasters in the U.S. resulted in losses of more than $1 billion, according to NOAA\u2019s National Centers for Environmental Information<\/a>. Those cataclysms included a drought, floods, severe storms, tropical cyclones, a wildfire, and a winter storm. For comparison, from 1980 to 2021, the average number of billion-dollar disasters per year (CPI-adjusted) was 7.7. From 2017 to 2021, that average rose to 17.8 incidents per year.<\/p>\n

On top of naturally occurring disasters, businesses also face virtual threats in the form of cyberattacks. During the first quarter of this year, there were 404 publicly reported data breaches in the U.S., a 14 percent increase from the first quarter of 2021, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center<\/a>. Nearly all (92 percent) of those breaches involved cyberattacks, with phishing and ransomware as the main methods.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it’s only a matter of time before hackers target your organization or a natural catastrophe impacts your operations. Now more than ever, preparing and investing in backup and disaster recovery efforts and solutions is critical.<\/p>\n

How to prepare for catastrophe: Investing in disaster recovery and business continuity<\/h2>\n

In the aftermath of a disaster, approximately 25 percent of businesses never reopen, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)<\/a>. However, planning for business continuity can significantly improve your company\u2019s chances of surviving the crisis. FEMA recommends that businesses of all sizes complete the following before disaster strikes:<\/p>\n