Business Interrupted: The Unexpected Disaster Your IT Provider Should Be Planning For

Backups Are Great—But They Won’t Keep Your Business Running

Power outages, cyberattacks, hardware meltdowns, freak storms—disasters don’t knock before barging in. When they hit, small businesses often get caught off guard. You might think, “We’ve got backups, we’re good!” But here’s the deal: having your data saved somewhere isn’t the same as keeping your business running.

If your systems go down and your team can’t work or reach clients, even a short hiccup can turn into a financial faceplant. That’s why your IT strategy needs more than backups—it needs a full-blown business continuity plan.

Backups vs. Business Continuity: There’s a Big Difference

Let’s set the record straight.

• Backups are like putting your photos in a safe. Good idea.
• Business continuity is making sure the house still runs if the power goes out.

Yes, backups are a must. But without a plan to get systems up, your team working, and clients in the loop, they’re basically digital paperweights.

A good business continuity plan answers questions like:

• How fast can we bounce back?
• Where do we work if the office is flooded?
• Which systems are top priority?
• Who pushes the panic button and starts recovery?

And it includes the serious stuff:

• Encrypted, off-site backups that can’t be changed or erased
• Plans for recovery time (how fast) and recovery points (how recent)
• Remote work setups
• Backup systems that kick in if the main ones fail
• Regular testing to make sure the plan actually works

If your IT provider just says, “Don’t worry, we’ve got backups,” it’s time to start worrying.

But Will This Really Happen To Me?

Absolutely. And it already has—to small businesses just like yours:

• Hurricanes in Florida knocked businesses offline for weeks. No cloud access? No work.
• Floods in North Carolina wiped out on-site servers. Goodbye invoices, hello chaos.
• Wildfires in California erased entire office buildings—and everything inside.
• Ransomware attacks across the country showed businesses too late that their backups were either corrupted or never tested.

Disasters don’t care if you’re a Fortune 500 company or a family-run shop. They just happen.

Ask These Questions Before the Next Disaster

Be honest: If something hit your business tomorrow, could you keep going?

Ask your IT provider:

• If we’re hit with ransomware, how fast can we recover?
• Are our backups tested and complete?
• What’s the plan if our office is toast?
• Does our continuity plan meet industry rules and laws?
• Can we keep helping clients if we all have to work from home?

If you’re not nodding confidently to each one, you’ve got work to do.

You Can’t Stop Disasters—But You Can Stop Downtime

You can’t control the weather. Or power grids. Or cybercriminals. But you can control your response.

An okay IT provider helps you pick up the pieces.

A great one makes sure you never drop them.

Want to know if your business is disaster-proof?

Click here to book your FREE Network Assessment and let’s make sure “unexpected disaster” never turns into “unplanned shutdown.”