Okay, so you're a small company, maybe a dozen employees doing a brisk business via phone, mail and web. You say to yourself, "I don't need a disaster recovery plan. I'm too small." So what happens when a disaster strikes? No I don't mean another 9/11, but those pesky little natural disasters like flood, fire, power failure, tornado or even a disgruntled employee.

Here's some grim statistics:

• 45% of companies without a disaster recovery plan never re-open after a disaster.
• 80% fail within a year and 90% within two years of the disaster.
• 40% of companies with a disaster recovery plan do not test it yearly.

Many small businesses think that backing up their computer systems with a tape is a disaster recovery plan. Computer backups are a part of the plan, but think of all your business processes, no matter how mundane. How will you answer your phone? How will mail and supplies get delivered? How will orders go out? How will they come in? Where will employees work if there is no workplace? These situations may seem far-fetched now, but you need to have a plan…just in case.

Testing your Disaster Recovery Plan
So you thought out a plan, documented it, given a copy to all employees and assigned responsibilities. Now, prepare a script for a "test disaster." Try a small disaster, like a pipe bursting and flooding your entire building. Or, go for a movie-like disaster and have a tornado destroy the entire community. Let customers and vendors know what you are planning to do. Some may even want to get involved if they depend on you for services or products.

Don't let your plan lose effectiveness by not testing.

Have some goals for your test. Make sure each assignment has a responsible party and the tasks are performed. Check to see how fast you can get operations running again. Look for weakness or failure in your plan. Afterwards review the entire plan with all entities involved. Can changes be made for improvement? What did you miss?

Maintaining Your Disaster Recovery Plan
The disaster recovery plan should not just sit on the shelf. Bring it out at least once a year. Every change in your company should have a corresponding change in the disaster recovery plan. Changes such as employees, buildings, phones customers and vendors need to be documented. Test at least once a year, but if changes are drastic you may need to test more often.

It is unwise to wait until a disaster actually happens to learn whether your plan is going to work or not. Disaster recovery plans lay out the steps and strategies to be followed in the event of a disaster. Weather emergency, power outage or loss of critical business functions …until a disaster happens, you never really know how you, your employees or vendors will react. A little role-playing with a test drill can work out the kinks. It is important to hold regular, realistic tests for your disaster recovery plan. Don't let your plan lose effectiveness by not testing.