Mitigating Risks: How to Safeguard Your Business Operations Against Natural Disasters

Natural disasters such as bushfires, floods, and tropical cyclones present major risks to businesses, often resulting in substantial financial losses. As reported by Deloitte, these events currently inflict over $38 billion in costs on the Australian economy each year, with projections indicating this figure could rise to at least $73 billion annually by 2060.

Protecting Your IT Infrastructure and Business Operations

With Cyclone Alfred set to impact Brisbane in the coming days, it’s a timely reminder for businesses to assess their disaster recovery plans. Power outages, network disruptions, and other technical failures could impact your business, eCommerce store, or cloud-based operations, but having a disaster recovery strategy in place will ensure your business’s continuity and minimise any potential downtime.

What is a Disaster Recovery Plan?

A disaster recovery plan is a structured approach to maintaining and restoring IT systems, data, and infrastructure following an unexpected event. Without a disaster recovery plan, your business risks losing critical data, facing prolonged downtime, and experiencing financial setbacks.

With most of South East Queensland likely to experience heavy rainfall, flooding and extreme winds for several days, preparing for power failures, server crashes, and potential data loss is critical.

Key Risks for Businesses

1. Power Outages: Disruptions in power can halt operations entirely. Servers, workstations, and networking equipment may go offline.
2. Data Loss: Natural disasters can damage physical infrastructure, including servers and storage devices, leading to data loss or corruption.
3. Communication Breakdown: Lack of internet connectivity or phone services can prevent teams from communicating with each other, customers, and suppliers.
4. Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities: During crises, attackers may exploit vulnerabilities in systems due to overburdened infrastructure, weak points in security protocols, or personnel working remotely without proper protection.
5. Hardware Damage: Physical damage to IT equipment, such as servers or networking hardware, could be caused by flooding, fire, or structural damage to office buildings.
6. Website or Online Service Downtime: If a business relies on their website or cloud services to function, these can go down during a disaster, leading to financial losses, customer dissatisfaction, and reputational damage.

Key Elements of a Strong Disaster Recovery Plan

1. Risk Assessment – Identify potential threats (e.g., power failures, network outages, data corruption).
2. Data Backup & Recovery – Implement routine backups with secure offsite storage.
3. Communication Strategy – Maintain clear internal and external communication protocols. Ensure staff and customers are informed about disruptions and recovery timelines.
4. Testing & Updating the Plan – Regularly review and update the disaster recovery plan to adapt to new threats.
5. Alternative Work Arrangements – Enable remote work capabilities (where possible) in case on-site operations are affected.

Key Solutions & Mitigations

1. Backup Power Systems:
   • Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS): Use UPS systems to provide short-term power during outages and prevent hardware from abruptly shutting down. This allows time for backup generators to kick in.
   • Backup Generators: Invest in backup generators to provide long-term power in case of extended outages. Ensure they are regularly maintained and have enough fuel to run for a reasonable period.
2. Disaster Recovery & Backup Plans:
   • Cloud-Based Backups: Ensure that critical data, software, and systems are backed up in the cloud. Cloud-based solutions (such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure) can offer better resilience in case of local infrastructure failure.
   • Remote Backup Locations: Use geographically diverse data centres to replicate backups, ensuring that even if a local data centre is affected by a disaster, backups are safe and accessible elsewhere.
   • Automated Backups: Implement regular, automated backups to ensure that data is always up-to-date.
3. Data Redundancy & High Availability:
   • Failover Systems: Set up failover systems (such as a secondary server or cloud instance) that can take over in the event of hardware failure or service disruption. This ensures continuous operation and reduces downtime.
   • Load Balancing: Use load balancers to distribute traffic between multiple servers or data centres to prevent service degradation during high-traffic periods (e.g., after a disaster when traffic may spike).
   • RAID Arrays for Storage: For physical storage, ensure that redundant storage solutions (such as RAID) are in place to mitigate data loss due to hardware failure.
4. Remote Work Enablement:
   • VPNs & Secure Access: Provide remote access tools like Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to allow employees to work from home securely, without exposing the company network to cyber threats.
   • Cloud-Based Collaboration Tools: Use cloud-based tools (like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, or Zoom) for team communication, project management, and document sharing to ensure business continuity even when employees cannot physically access the office.
5. Cybersecurity Measures:
   • Monitoring & Alerts: Set up monitoring and alerts for unusual traffic or system activity during a disaster. Cybercriminals may take advantage of the chaos to exploit vulnerabilities.
   • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enforce MFA for all employees, especially those working remotely, to protect accounts from unauthorised access.
   • Regular Patching and Vulnerability Scanning: Make sure software is updated regularly, and that critical security patches are applied before and during disaster scenarios to prevent breaches.
6. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) / Cloud Services:
   • Leverage Cloud Computing: Rather than relying on physical hardware that could be damaged during a disaster, host essential services and applications in the cloud. Cloud providers usually have redundant systems to ensure uptime and geographic diversification.
   • Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS): Look into DRaaS solutions that provide automated failover to backup infrastructure in case your primary systems go down.
7. Communication Strategy:
   • Customer Notifications: Set up automated email responses, social media alerts, or a website banner to notify customers if there’s any disruption to your services or shipping.
   • Dedicated Communication Channels: Have clear communication channels for customers to reach you during a crisis, whether that’s via phone, email, or live chat.

Planning Ahead is Key

Natural disasters are unpredictable, but with the right disaster recovery plan, businesses can minimise disruption and recover quickly. Take the time to test your disaster recovery plans regularly. Ensure backups are up to date, review emergency procedures, and confirm staff are aware of response protocols. If you need assistance in setting up or reviewing your IT disaster recovery strategy, our Brisbane-based team is here to help.