When a major disruption hits — a ransomware attack, a natural disaster, a power outage, or a critical hardware failure — the businesses that survive and recover quickly are the ones that planned ahead. Business continuity planning (BCP) isn’t just for large enterprises. For NYC businesses of any size, having a documented, tested continuity plan can mean the difference between a minor setback and permanent closure.
SolvedIT has helped businesses across New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut build practical business continuity and disaster recovery plans that actually work when they’re needed. Here’s what a solid plan covers.
Business Continuity Planning for NYC Companies: What Every Business Needs
Step 1: Business Impact Analysis
Start by identifying which systems, applications, and data are critical to your operations — and what the cost is if each one goes down. For a NYC accounting firm, losing access to their tax software during filing season has a very different impact than losing it in July. Understanding your critical systems and their recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) is the foundation of every effective BCP.
Step 2: Risk Assessment
What are the most likely threats to your specific business? For NYC companies, common threats include ransomware attacks, flooding or water damage (particularly for ground-floor offices or buildings with aging infrastructure), ISP or power outages, and hardware failure. Each risk needs a documented response procedure.
Step 3: Secure, Tested Backup Systems
Backups are the backbone of any disaster recovery plan — but only if they actually work. SolvedIT implements the 3-2-1 backup strategy: three copies of data, on two different media types, with one copy offsite or in the cloud. Critically, we test restores regularly. Untested backups are not reliable backups.
Step 4: Documented Recovery Procedures
When an incident occurs, your team shouldn’t have to figure out what to do under pressure. Documented, step-by-step recovery procedures for each critical system — including who is responsible for each step, contact information for vendors and support teams, and escalation paths — ensure that recovery happens quickly and correctly.
Step 5: Communication Plan
Who notifies employees that systems are down? How do you communicate with clients during an outage? Who is the single point of contact with vendors and insurers? A documented communication plan prevents confusion and protects client relationships during an incident.
Step 6: Regular Testing and Updates
A BCP that was written two years ago and never tested is not a plan — it’s a document. SolvedIT conducts tabletop exercises and actual failover tests with clients to verify that recovery procedures work, identify gaps, and update the plan as systems and personnel change.
FEMA data shows that 40% of businesses never reopen after a major disaster, and another 25% close within a year. In New York City, where competition is fierce and client relationships are everything, the businesses that survive disruptions are almost always the ones that planned for them.
SolvedIT designs, implements, and tests business continuity and disaster recovery plans for businesses throughout New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Our plans are practical, documented, and built around your specific systems and risk profile — not generic templates.
Don’t find out your BCP doesn’t work during an actual disaster. Contact SolvedIT today to schedule a business continuity assessment and build a plan your business can rely on.
