Downtime: Preparation and Prevention

Hi There, Joe Average here!

Let me put forward a scenario to you: Your work computers are kaput and the variety of reactions follow…
Wally Wiseass jokes, “Looks like we’re having the day off mate!”
Last minute Larry starts sweating with his 5pm deadline looming over him.
Penny Paper Lover looks smugger than a child who just played Dad against Mum.
“Good thing I’m a stationery gal!”  (Yeah, she’s SUPER FUN at parties!)
But don’t stress your yoga pants, because I am here to take all your worries away, with my effective solutions to minimize what we in the I.T. World call, ‘Downtime’.

Downtime is the amount of time that your tech system is out of service, due to a variety of reasons that cause both software and hardware to fail. This isn’t your average holiday however, as it has the potential to paralyse your business for extended time periods. As we live in the digital world with everyone on computers (except for Penny, god bless her), minimizing downtime is CRITICAL to ensuring a productive work environment.
“Excuse me, Mr. Average, do you know how to prepare for and prevent downtime?”
Absubloodylutely, strap in.

Have a Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) in place

Recently, Mother Nature has smacked Australia harder than our own mothers used to. Wherever you live, assess your common threats and make a plan of action in the unfortunately likely situation that this will occur. It’s also important to include cyberthreats such as hacking and viruses in this plan.
Now you have a plan – test it! Cut the power, fake a hacking, throw your desktop out the window (that last point is optional). Practice what a real-life situation would look like and ensure all data is backed up to a centralized location, so you can actually find it.

Warranty

In the tech industry, an out-of-warranty date can also act as an expiry date. Giving the new guy the laptop that you fished out of the basement exponentially increases the risk of downtime occurring. It’s like getting food poisoning in Thailand: Inevitable. Your I.T. provider should be keeping track of this information, notifying you prior to expiry and providing you with options.

Security

We need to stop thinking of hackers as 40-year-olds who still live with their mothers. They are smooth operators who know what they are doing! It is important that your I.T. Provider has: 1) implemented sophisticated security measures, and 2) provided education to your employees around how to minimize cybersecurity threats from impacting your business.

Preventative Maintenance Schedule

If ADITS is your IT provider (INCOMING: Totally not subtle selling), we ensure our customers have a maintenance schedule to prevent disaster strikes. We give up our weekends, our personal ‘downtime’, to complete this kind of work outside your normal work hours, or in a time that is most convenient for you. Talk to anyone of our I.T. Consultants about options that suit you.