Is your firm dusting off its playbook only to discover it is missing plays?

Business Continuing Planning in the new Coronavirus World

What first may have appeared to be a media-hyped pandemic is fast becoming the new normal. Firms are rushing to efficiently support large remote workforces and conduct business as usual during this unprecedented time.

As firms, both large and small, scramble to address the challenges of this highly contagious virus, an overwhelming response has been to move to a remote model. But can firm VPNs/remote solutions handle the strain caused by thousands of telecommuting employees. Is a small firm ready to address hardware challenges, public internet slowdowns, and other obstacles that may arise? Do your employees have robust and unified communication tools that allow them to chat, meet, call, and collaborate all in one place, no matter where they are?

Resoundingly the answer has been, “We have never planned for this; we do not have that play in our book.” 

What should firms be considering? Firms need to revisit their pandemic-related business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Specifically, they need to address if their BCPs are flexible enough to actively address a wide range of possible circumstances and situations. These plans need to account for the short- and long-term challenges around but not limited to:

• Secure tools for unified team collaboration such as Microsoft Teams
• Adequate resources for remote access tools, like Citrix
• Cost increases and time to set up and inform new remote users
• Sluggish productivity due to private internet bandwidths
• Impending hardware shortages
• Shortages of security and technical skills
• Budget cuts
• Supply chain failures
• New cybersecurity threats and actors

Most businesses are rapidly having to augment their continuity plans to cover unforeseen “what-if” scenarios. The reality is that many firms are now working outside their comfort zone, and business continuity and disaster plans need to consider BOTH essential and non-essential employees working remotely for extended periods of time. Having robust remote access solutions such as Citrix are proving to be paramount.

RFA is the expert in planning and supporting our clients for the unthinkable. We ensure our clients meet both their business and reporting requirements while that “unthinkable” happens.

The reality is that BCPs must be linked with disaster recovery plans. If your firm needs assistance reviewing and executing those plans, RFA has experts available to quickly address those needs.

Connect with us to review your BCP plan or quickly address challenges your firm is facing.

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