Business Continuity and Critical Care

On a day of thanks, Ardent Health Services was attacked by a cyber breach that affected 30 hospitals and over 200 health care sites. Due to the disruption to IT applications, the health care provider had to divert patients to other hospitals. This incident highlights the value of business continuity practices, especially for organizations engaged in providing critical life-saving services to the public.

Business Continuity and Combating the Unknown

The health care provider announced that while it was working on remediating the disruption to their systems, they could not definitively estimate how long it would take to resume normal operations. This lack of knowledge speaks to the business’s level of readiness to maintain critical functions due to the emergency. Depending on the severity of the attack, a proper business continuity strategy in place before the disaster can save significant amounts of time, money, and in this instance, potential lives. A quick recovery time to return to normal operations is critical in the event of a breach, power outage, equipment failure, natural disaster, and even a key employee absence.

The Three Components of Business Continuity

Typically, a continuity and risk management plan may entail the following:

• Resiliency, or the capability to handle the wave of unexpected disruptions and rebound to a sufficient operational status.
• Recovery, which are the robust mechanisms that swiftly restore essential systems affected by the disaster.
• Contingency, which are the plans to have alternative methods for continuing services when the primary systems are compromised.

Business Continuity Tools

There is a plethora of tools available and employing the expertise of a reputable managed service provider can help organizations take advantage of those technologies. Back-ups, which are a simple way to ensure business continuity, utilize storing data off site to promote business continuity. Other tools should be used in conjunction with back-ups to assist the IT infrastructure during an event. Point-in-time and recovery copies take snapshots of databases regularly, so these systems can be restored from these objects. Cold Sites promote contingency plans where business operations can continue via a second facility for staff to continue working. In addition to the previous tools are virtualization of computing environments, physical tools like fire suppression to combat fires, and more. Contact the team at Pittsburgh Computer Solutions today so our organization can evaluate your business and set protocols in place to prevent loss of your vital data.

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At PCS, our team consists of seasoned professionals dedicated to exploring the latest trends, tools, and strategies in the IT landscape. As a Managed Services Provider and IT Consulting Firm specializing in client retention, serving small to mid-sized businesses of all industries, we aim to empower businesses and individuals with the knowledge they need to navigate the complexities of today's tech environment.

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