The Contingency Planning Guide

the contingency planning guide
Sometimes a contingency plan (sometimes called a “Plan B”) is developed in case your chosen course of action doesn’t work out. A contingency planning guide is also a component of disaster recovery, business continuity scenarios and risk management that are part of nearly all business planning.

Like this article mentions, a contingency plan is a course of action designed to help an organization respond effectively to a significant future event or situation that may or may not happen.

What does contingency planning cover?

A good contingency plan should include any eventuality that might disrupt business operations.

  • events such as natural disasters,
  • exceptional employee events such as threats from staff or customers, injuries, and work site accidents,
  • departure or disability of a senior manager or discontinuity in senior management,
  • strikes or work actions by unions,
  • data loss because of technical problems, fires or natural disasters, sabotage or criminal hacking,
  • gross management, theft, critical neglect of duty, or accidental destruction of equipment, materials or products,
  • product issues such as product recalls, or huge demand orders that require plant relocation or reorganization.

The Contingency Plan:

Writing a complete contingency plan is a significant operation requiring entire staff and management investment. The contingency plan has to be an outline of steps that all are prepared to take and an outline that all are committed to following.

Firstly, you must analyze risks. A list of all possible events that could disrupt operations has to be drawn up. The list should be realistic, and contributions from all departments should be included.

For each item on the list, the likelihood of it occurring should be estimated. Many possibilities are so unlikely that they could reasonably be left out of the plan.

Estimate how much impact each of the disruptive possibilities might have.  If a possibility would have minimal or manageable impact, you may not need a unique plan.

For each contingency with a reasonable likelihood of occurring with a significant impact on the organization, work out steps that would protect people, property, and business continuity if that event occurred.

Contingency planning is about likelihood of occurrence and likely impact. Those are the key dimensions that pay a part in your decisions.

4 Corner IT has contingency plans for almost any organization. Our expertise in contingency planning comes from actual experience. Please contact us to learn more.

Examples of Contingency Plan for Network Failure

contingency plan for network failure

Most businesses need to pay more attention to having a contingency plan for network failure. However, it’s always better to be prepared than to suffer significant losses due to network downtime. With that quickly, we’ve provided some examples of what makes a good network contingency plan that you can easily implement into your business.

Firstly, a good contingency plan should be written in simple, easy-to-follow language. You never know who will access the program or how computer-savvy they may be, so keeping it straightforward is essential.

Secondly, a good contingency plan should answer three critical questions: What potential problems could occur? What do we do if the problem happens? What can we do ahead of time to prevent it from happening?

Thirdly, a good contingency plan should prepare for all possible disasters, including natural disasters. Unfortunately, many businesses learned this the hard way during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. If you have a contingency plan, in can avoid losing everything in a disaster.

Lastly, a good contingency plan should prioritize risks based on likelihood and urgency. For example, a cybersecurity breach is more likely to occur than a stolen mainframe. Addressing the most pressing risks first is crucial.

If you need help constructing a good contingency plan for network failure or assistance, please get in touch with us.

It’s always better to have business continuity and not need it than to need it and not have it.

How to Backup Data on your Android Device in 2022

phone services

Restoring data on Android device can be a lifesaver. It can be done directly from your phone to a Google account.  You need to know the proper steps to backup data in order to protect valuable information.   The data restoration process is different for various Android phones and versions.  

Let’s check out how phone data is stored: 

  • When backups are uploaded to Google servers, they are encrypted with the help of the password of the Google account. The phone screen lock password is ideally used to encrypt the data so that it can be backed up properly.  

The backup data is deleted in the following scenarios: 

  • When you do not use your device for 57 days. 
  • When you turn off the Android Backup. 

So, let’s learn step by step the procedure of the automatic restoration of the data on the Android device: 

Back up Content 

Back up photos and videos – Backing up the pictures and the videos involves the following ways: 

  • Installation Backup and Sync. 
  • Uploading photos from the browser 

Things to know when uploading photos: 

  • Whenever you delete a photo or video from the computer that was previously backed up to Google Photos, it will still be saved in Google Photos. 
  • When you remove the photo or video from Google Photos, it should be removed from Google drive or your computer itself. 
  • The uploads can be much slower as it uses more storage when backing up to Google Photos and Google Drive. 

First Step: Setting up of the Google Drive for Desktop:

  • Make sure to download and install Google Drive for the desktop on your computer. 
  • Then, you need to sign in to your Google Account. 
  • After, you need to click the folders or the pictures you wish to back up. 
  • Finally, click the Done button. 

Where is the data stored on the Android phone? 

All the applications consist of the default data directory. In the data directory, one can easily store the data. 

Where exactly is the data stored on the mobile phone? 

  • Random-access memory, also known as, RAM, is the phone’s central operating memory and storage. The phone stores the data in RAM, which is being used actively. 

How can one access data on the Android Phone? 

  • One can access the private files with the help of GUI: The Android Device Monitor from the menu includes the Tools/Android/ Android Device Monitor in the android system. Then you can easily navigate the File Explorer tab, the data, and the app package name. 

Command Line: You can also transfer the file to the device or pull the file from the device concerning the ADB. 

Add a backup account 

There are various steps involved in the addition of the backup account: 

  • First, open the phone settings applications, 
  • Then, tap the system 
  • Further, tap your back account and then add an account. 
  • If needed, enter the phone number, PIN, pattern, or password. 
  • Sign in to the account whenever you wish to add. 
  • Switch between backup accounts 
  • Manually back up data & settings 

Switch between backup accounts 

Let’s understand how to switch between the backup accounts: 

  • The first step is to open your phone’s setting application. 
  • Tap the backup account. 
  • Tap the back account you wish to use for backups.

What is the Manually backup data & settings? 

Manually back up data & settings 

It is possible that you can misplace the phone or drop it in the water and lose everything. But there are several ways to backup Android devices. It can be done manually. Whenever it is installed, it is required to make sure that the photos are automatically set up in the files. The steps to sync the images to Google photos are:

  • Open the Google photos app. 
  • Now press on the profile image in the top right corner. 
  • Tuned to select the photos settings. 
  • Move on to the Backup and sync. 
  • Also, make sure to upload the size and select the preferable upload settings. 

 By following these simple steps, one can easily store the data or keep a backup on an Android phone. Knowing how to backup and restore data will give you the peace of mind that you will always have access to important information. 

Contact Us Today and Check Out Our Blog!

Disaster Recovery Services Every Florida Business Needs

florida businesses need backup

Massive data loss can destroy a business. Ransomware, fires, floods, and physical theft are just a few of the ways that your data could be wiped out. The irrecoverable loss of business records is worse than any physical loss. Insurance can cover the harm to furniture, equipment, and even an entire office, but it can’t bring back lost information. Research has shown that half of all organizations haven’t implemented the data protection and recovery processes they need to survive a disaster. Without disaster recovery services, a business will take weeks to put its data back together, and some data will be impossible to get back. Downtime means lost revenue, and it will eventually lead to bankruptcy.

The Causes of Data Loss

Physical disasters are a leading cause of on-site data loss. A fire, electrical surge, or flood can make disk drives inoperable. Combined with other damage from the event, the inability to continue normal data processing seriously disrupts business operations.

Online crime targets a company’s most valuable data. Ransomware encrypts files, making them unusable, and demands a payment for restoring them. It attacks backup files if it can reach them. Giving in to the extortion demand doesn’t always get the files back.

Burglars can break into an office and steal computers. The chances of getting them back are low. Break-ins cause damage beyond what is physically carried off.

User error can wipe out or corrupt important files. It might be a long time before you notice, making it hard to restore them.

The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy

A widely recommended approach to protecting data is the 3-2-1 strategy. This means having at least three copies of your data, on two or more devices, with at least one of them in a remote location.

The three copies include the active version of the data, a local backup, and a remote backup. The local backup is the easiest to keep up to date, since you have a high-bandwidth connection to it that doesn’t depend on the Internet. The remote one is safe from events that affect your office and could damage the local backup.

Backup vs. Disaster Recovery

Having a backup is important, but it’s not the same as a disaster recovery plan. Saving files isn’t enough. Configuration data, user account information, and license keys are vital to operations. To get back up and running quickly, you need procedures for restoring data and operations when your hardware fails. If you lose an entire disk, can you install a fresh one that will let employees use business applications just as they did before?

To do this, you need not just a file backup but a disk image or a failover system. A complete disk image lets you get everything back into place — files, directories, accounts, and databases. A failover system goes a step further; you turn it on, and it runs everything just as the old system did. Cloud-based failover systems are within the reach of many IT budgets.

Setting up a disaster recovery plan isn’t something you can wing. It starts with an analysis to determine all your requirements. The backup mechanisms need to cover all your essential data, and the recovery process needs to operate with an acceptable amount of downtime. Once it’s in place, the plan needs testing. If a crucial system isn’t being backed up, you want to know about it and correct it before you experience data loss.

Having expert advice will make sure your recovery plan works. We offer backup and recovery plans for businesses throughout South Florida, letting you run your business in confidence that a data-loss incident won’t be more than an inconvenience.

Get in touch with us to discuss the plan that is best for your business. Or if you’re not ready yet, grab the Comprehensive Guide to Disaster Recovery eBook from WheelHouse IT to learn more.

The Comprehensive Guide to Disaster Recovery

6 Cyber Security Must-Haves for Remote Work

6 cyber security must haves for remote work

The quick transition to remote work that many companies have had to make has revealed security risks that IT professionals are not able to monitor or correct as closely as they would be able to when employees work in-house. To mitigate these risks and protect data, employees will need to follow cyber security best practices and abide by the requests made by IT. Fortunately, skills and security measures like the following that employees will need during these times help not only their employers in the present but protect them from personal security risks in the future. 

Secure Wi-Fi

The convenience provided by an open wireless network doesn’t mitigate the risk of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands, and this applies to personal financial information as much as it does to data relating to work. Employees will need to secure their home wireless networks with the most advanced protection available to them. Users should also have the latest firmware.

Encrypted Traffic

IT departments can consider a virtual private network, or VPN, on top of secured wireless networks to encrypt all traffic data. There are downsides to VPNs, however, including slower connection speeds. Some users may not like that their employer can monitor their network usage with a VPN, either.

Phishing Prevention

It doesn’t matter if a company uses the most advanced security software or the most impenetrable hardware if the user is the weak point. Employees should undergo training to detect and avoid phishing scams and their various modes — phone, text, and email —  before working remotely, even if they’ve already issued this training in the past.  All it takes is a careless click to give access to a user’s login information.

Fortunately, modern security software can even warn about potential phishing attacks.

Smart Password Usage

Not only is it risky to use the same password and username for multiple websites, but choosing simple passwords that are easy to crack also puts a user at risk. Because users won’t necessarily opt for best practices such as strong passwords that they periodically change, companies should ensure that their software systems require these password security measures and even use password managers to generate and store strong passwords. Businesses should also encourage two-factor authentication, which requires that users enter a second code that is typically sent via email or text, to log in.

Company-Issues Devices

Many of the risks listed above can be minimized when a company issues devices that prevent unauthorized changes and have the appropriate software installed so that employees have all the resources necessary to complete their jobs. Sending employees home with company devices keeps sensitive data away from personal devices, which may be less secure and more likely to be compromised, and companies can install enterprise-level security software to prevent malware and phishing attacks. 

If this is not possible, companies should set standards for which devices can be used, including software and hardware requirements, to ensure the devices being used are as secure as possible and to avoid the risk of “shadow backups” to personal cloud storage accounts.

Data Backup

Assuming that users abide by cyber security best practices and a company’s software is set up securely, there is always the risk of hard drive or another mechanical failure, which is why a company must have a plan in place to back up data. Many companies opt for cloud storage, a solution that is especially useful when the office is inaccessible; however, some choose physical servers that their IT team members maintain themselves. 

Companies that want to increase cyber security measures for remote workers or ensure that their systems are secure enough for telecommuting can contact us for a cybersecurity analysis.

Also, check out our cabling services!