by Angela Guess
Andrew Bailey, President of Cabinet NG recently shared his insights on best practices for records and data management. Bailey writes, “Most businesses today depend on their electronic data and records to provide the information necessary to run their businesses. In order to provide business continuity in the event of a disaster or business interruption, it is imperative these records and data be available 24/7… There are several things a business can do to provide a more robust operating environment and be able to quickly recover from a disaster or extended outage.â€
The first step is to plan on being mobile: “Set up an infrastructure that allows employees to work from anywhere. This can be as simple as using laptops (instead of desktops) and using a phone system that can be accessed from anywhere. Many voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone systems allow the users to plug in from anywhere. Having laptops allows users to carry these to an offsite location and continue working. In an emergency, these employees could work from many locations connected via their phones and laptops. The only thing missing would be the daily physical interaction.â€
The next step, according to Bailey, is to use the cloud: “As much as possible, move critical data to servers outside your facility to locations purposely built for housing servers, such as co-location facilities and/or datacenters run by professionals. This provides the ability to access your data and records from anywhere, giving you the flexibility to have your workforce work from anywhere with a network connection. Going a step further, put as much data as possible (or you feel comfortable with) in the hands of a competent cloud provider.â€
