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Get Ready for Hurricane Season; It Only Takes One… or None… for Disaster to Strike Your Business

Weatherproof your business with Business Continuity solutions from eMazzanti Technologies

In today’s digital world your business depends on technology to thrive, but what happens when disaster strikes? Insurance can cover tangible losses, but what plan do you have for keeping business critical data and services up and running?  

Watch this short message, Disaster Recovery on YouTube.

Fortunately, last month’s Hurricane Arthur caused only minor physical damage, but we all remember 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. With an estimated $6 billion in business losses in NY State alone, and $50 Billion total damage, it was the second most costly hurricane on record, exceeded only by Katrina.

2014 Hurricane Predictions

Each year experts predict the total number of hurricanes and the number of major storms. For 2014, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA is predicting:

  • 10 named tropical storms
  • 5 hurricanes
  • 2 major hurricanes

These numbers are slightly less than average but slightly more than 2013, an unusually light hurricane season. Without exception, however, forecasters are warning the population to not be complacent. The consensus is that it only takes one Hurricane coming ashore to cause a major disaster, and you should be prepared.

Disasters are Unpredictable

A lighter than normal hurricane season doesn’t mean there will be no disasters. According to accuweather.com, Hurricane Andrew leveled much of South Florida after a calm summer in 1992, and became one of the most disastrous hurricanes on record.

“I’m worried because people think this is going to be a very inactive year, so people think they don’t have to worry, but that’s not the case at all.”Dan Kottlowski, senior meteorologist, AccuWeather.com

This year’s El Niño is one factor affecting the number of hurricanes. “Even though we expect El Niño to suppress the number of storms this season, it’s important to remember it takes only one land falling storm to cause a disaster.” said Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D., NOAA administrator.

Another weather site, weather.com, points out that, despite a very active hurricane season in 2010 with 12 hurricanes, “not a single hurricane, and only one tropical storm, made landfall in the U.S.”

In other words, a season can have many storms, but cause little damage, or produce fewer storms than average and trigger a major disaster with one or more hurricanes coming ashore. “Therefore, it’s important to be prepared for hurricanes and tropical storms every year, regardless of seasonal forecasts.”

Not Just Hurricanes

Deciding not to prepare for a hurricane because of a light forecast is like not buying auto insurance because of a reduction in accident rates. You may feel comfortable and decide to focus on other things. But, being complacent may lead you to overlook other things that can happen. An accident may or may not occur but then, what if your car is stolen?

As with automobile losses, business disasters come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are natural disasters. Others come from hardware failure, human error or the harmful intentions of employees or people outside the business.

Business disaster statistics:

  • Between 60 and 70 percent of all problems that disrupt business are due to internal malfunctions of hardware or software, or human errors.1
  • 70% of all successful attacks on computer networks were carried out by employees and insiders.2
  • Natural disasters have impacted more than 30% of all small businesses in the USA.2
  • Hurricanes are by far the most destructive force causing power failure, flooding, customer loss, and the closure of many businesses.2

Business disaster recovery rates:

  • 80 percent of businesses suffering a major disaster go out of business in three years.1
  • 40 percent of businesses that experience a critical IT failure go out of business within one year.1
  • Companies that aren’t able to resume operations within ten days are not likely to survive.1
  • The survival rate for companies without a disaster recovery plan is less than 10%.2
  • Only 35 percent of SMBs have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place.2

Find the Right Vendor for Disaster Recovery Services

Selecting a vendor for disaster prevention and recovery services can determine how soon your business is up and running after a disaster, if at all. Hundreds of businesses struck by Hurricane Sandy failed to reopen for weeks or months. Not all vendors have the same capabilities and experience. However, here’s one disaster recovery statistic business owners can bank on:

100% of eMazzanti’s customers were back up and running within 72 hours of Hurricane Sandy’s devastating landfall!

“In the days before Sandy hit, every eMazzanti employee was moved to a customer support role, checking backups and making sure clients were as prepared as possible.” Jennifer Mazzanti, president, eMazzanti Technologies

Thoroughly preparing our customers and ourselves, eMazzanti comes through when it counts.

Read the case study, How eMazzanti Disaster Recovery Solution Restored Customers Hit by Hurricane Sandy in Record Time.

Backup and Disaster Recovery Services

eMazzanti provides managed and automated cloud-based backup-and-restore solutions for data management and recovery over multiple locations, devices and Microsoft platforms, including:

  • Data backup
  • Dependable and accurate data recovery
  • Rapid backup and recovery times
  • Scalable and secure storage management solutions
  • Continuous real-time protection for laptops, servers and mobile devices

Business Continuity Services

Boost your organization’s ability to recover from a disaster or unexpected event and quickly resume operations with these essential business continuity services:

  • Business continuity planning, and training
  • Monitoring of key metrics including recovery time
  • Creating a disaster recovery committee with auditor
  • Proper documentation
  • Support strategies
  • Communication
  • Personnel backup

Hopefully, no hurricanes will cause interruptions or damage to your business during the 2014 season. However, experts say that you should be prepared for natural disasters regardless of the forecasts, as well as other disasters, that may strike the business at any time.

Let eMazzanti weatherproof your business with a customized business continuity plan that minimizes downtime, service disruption, and lost revenue. You’ll rest easy knowing your business is protected with a seamless cloud-based recovery solution that grows as your business grows. Act now and contact us today, 1-866-EMAZZANTI

1itispivotal.com, 2iosafe.com

Additional resources:

24 Disaster Recovery Tips for Business Computer Networks

eCare Disaster Recovery Solution Enables eMazzanti to Rapidly Restore Customer Data

Disaster recovery solutions — more accessible, and more necessary, than ever before

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