Is your business ready for remote working?

Unprecedented events like Coronavirus or the recent flooding experienced by some parts of the UK have caused major disruption to businesses and the economy.

This week many UK businesses enacted their disaster recovery procedures in light of Coronavirus. These well-practiced procedures have seen teams split and asked to work remotely, in some cases within 24 hours.

The question now is how will the UK business community respond? Will they continue to hope for the best? Or will they start using the systems and infrastructure they have spent the past few years investing in?

So in our latest BCN Group blog, we examine the three steps your business can take to ensure business continuity.

1. Plan your requirements today, not tomorrow

Planning is the key to success, and the sooner you start the better. Gather the right information first and you can have disaster recovery procedures in place that will ensure your business continues when others are grinding to a halt.

Start by answering these few simple questions, which will help you set the requirements and formulate the plan.

• What do you want to be able to do remotely?
• Which systems will you need to access?
• Where will your staff work from?
• How will you monitor performance?
• How could a disaster affect your customers?

2. Audit your systems to identify the gaps

Most companies have invested in technology to make working off-site easier, but do current systems actually allow true remote working? Many staff still save data locally to work on from home and then upload it to systems the next day. That can be fine for occasional days,  but it simply will not work for prolonged periods away from the premises.

Next question: can your staff work together from remote locations? Can they access the files, share ideas, meet up online and even win new business without working face to face? Cloud-based solutions can make all these things possible, ensuring true business continuity with effective cooperative working. If you have gaps in your infrastructure, now is the time to find and fix them.

3. Training and testing are essential

So you have invested in new technology that allows fluid working and business continuity. Well done, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will work the minute it is required. At BCN Group we always advise our customers to invest in training staff to use the solutions and get everyone used to working remotely. It’s the only way to make sure your investment provides maximum benefit to the company.

Training will also help you to test your systems and processes, identifying additional requirements or gaps that haven’t been planned for.

Competitive advantage

One last point. Even if disaster doesn’t strike, offering the ability to work remotely could help you attract a wider range of skilled employees throughout your organisation. Why limit yourself to those who live nearby?

So having effective remote working systems in place for your teams and your business will not only help you survive the next disaster. It will also give you an advantage over less well prepared competitors.

For expert support in developing your disaster recovery plan and more information about BCN Group’s remote working solutions and cloud storage, please email info@bcn.co.uk or call 0354 095 7000