You Can’t Afford to Wait: The Importance of System Continuity Planning

On July 19, 2024, computers running Microsoft operating systems went into an endless reboot cycle when CrowdStrike, a cyber security firm, rolled out a bad sensor configuration update in its Falcon cybersecurity platform. The patch knocked out approximately 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide and paralyzed the organizations that relied upon them: banks, airlines, railway lines, hospitals, and businesses.

Fortunately, none of our customers were impacted by the problem, but it got us thinking about what would have happened if something like the CrowdStrike problem did happen. Would your business be prepared if all the computers went down?

We live in a world fraught with possible disasters. There are natural disasters: earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, blizzards, pandemics. There are manmade disasters: terrorist attacks, wars, and yes, bad patches that crash Windows operating systems!

We can’t avoid all problems or possible disasters. That’s not realistic. Even the best people, products, and services can make mistakes or have faults. That’s just life.
So while we can’t avoid all possible disasters, we can prepare our businesses for “what if” situations.

What if the grid goes down and we can’t get power back on for several days? What if a tornado rips the roof off the building and we can’t get back to work for weeks?

What if a blizzard makes travel hazardous and we want everyone to work from home? What if a bad update shuts the computers down? What if the credit card processor goes offline or breaks? What if the internet is down for several days?

These are all possible disasters affecting some businesses more than others. They’re good examples of the things the business owners must think about and plan for as part of their continuity planning.

The Importance of System Continuity Planning

All these “what-ifs” are part of an exercise called continuity planning. We work with our clients on continuity planning to ensure that if Bad Thing A, B, or C happens, their systems remain up and running and business can continue until things return to normal.

While continuity planning often focuses on natural disasters such as weather-related disasters, system disasters should also be part of continuity planning. The CrowdStrike outage is a good example of a system disaster and the need for system continuity planning.

Let’s take the example of major hotel chains impacted by the CrowdStrike problem. When CrowdStrike released their patch, it rolled out across all impacted computers almost simultaneously. Unfortunately, the fix for the issue had to be installed manually. This means that every computer in the hotel had to be manually remediated by an IT person.

Even if you had dozens of people working round the clock to fix the computers, there’s still downtime while waiting for the system update. During that time, the hotel cannot take reservations. They cannot answer questions about room availability. They cannot process credit cards. They cannot, in effect, conduct business.

System continuity planning ensures that no matter what happens, backup systems are in place to ensure that business can go on as usual. For our customers, this can mean:

• Identifying critical systems needed to conduct business
• Determining how to ensure backups are in place
• Developing a plan for business continuing
• Training teams on the continuity plan

Successful Continuity Planning Requires a Comprehensive Approach

Continuity planning is more than figuring out how to back up critical systems. It requires a thoughtful and comprehensive approach. It must take into account all aspects of the business, including internal communications, customer communications, and critical systems, processes and workflows.

For example, if there is a disaster and you cannot get to the office, how will you get the message out to the employees that they shouldn’t come in to work today? Can they access email? If the email server is down, what then?

We work with our clients to think through as many situations as possible and the communication and business systems needed to keep their businesses open. This may include alternative systems or backup systems, such as SMS text messages, that are only used during disasters. Because we work with many customers as their managed service partner, we can ensure that their systems are covered during a potential emergency or disaster.

Can You Afford to Shut Down Your Business?

During the pandemic, some companies were caught unaware of the importance of business and system continuity planning. These companies suddenly found themselves under stay-at-home orders and needed to find ways for staff to work remotely. If they had planned for such a scenario, their teams would have been better prepared to carry on business as usual. However, companies that lacked continuity plans and backup systems struggled for days or even weeks until they were able to figure it out. If they had an IT service partner by their side, they could have easily transitioned to remote work with barely a pause.

System Continuity Planning and Security

We’re not saying you can plan for every potential emergency, but you can do much more than you’ve done to date to ensure business and system continuity.

If you are already a customer of ours, and you haven’t talked to us yet about system continuity, let’s schedule time to do so soon. Now is the time while the CrowdStrike disaster is fresh in your mind and you’re thinking about it. If you wait too long, other business matters will take priority, and you’ll set it aside once again.

If you aren’t a customer, please give a COUPLE of GURUS a call. We are managed service providers who specialize in IT security and system support. We can address continuity planning, cybersecurity, and ongoing system maintenance needs for your company.

Call us at 612-454-4879 to speak with us today.