Discussion

By Robert Godwin on Sep 08, 2020

David,
All good points, and so important for business big and small. Fair warning, I have a long response.
First, Richard Romano did a webinar with Firesping as the Top Small printer in the US. The one thing that stood out in that for me was how they managed through the worst of the pandemic. They had a disaster recovery plan in place. It spawned from their experience with Hurricane Sandy (?). They had backup plans for their client assets, knew who could work remotely and who had to be in the shop. Employees were prepped so no surprise furloughs once a disaster was declared. How smart is that? Real, real smart.

I worked for a large print company in 2006. The client base was large publishing houses and major advertising agencies, especially in the automotive field. Campaigns were large with major spends. To do business with them you had to have a disaster recovery/business continuity plan in place. For the record, this was how we explained it in the negotiations:
"No company is immune to disaster. That is why we have employed considerable
resources in creating and maintaining our Business Continuity Program. After all, we are
not only protecting our business, but your assets as well.
Highly regarded in the industry, our Business Continuity Team separately tests and validates
each facility. In addition, we also conduct ‘mock disasters’ and fly the IT staff from each
facility to a remote recovery location, along with offsite backup tapes, in order to test their
ability to fully recover all critical data and systems within 48 hours. We consider this
an important undertaking due to the fact that the majority of data recovered are digital
assets vital to the future of many businesses.
Although our plan is confidential and proprietary, we do have a client version which we can
forward upon request."

For small printers without the support of multiple divisions geographically dispersed, make agreements with local competitors you can trust, have each other’s backs, in advance of the disaster. Explain to employers how the plan will affect each one them. Prepare them to work remotely and stay in touch.

Yes, the recent pandemic has caused some companies to make plans and be better prepared. If you have not, do it next week. Worth every minute and every dime you spend planning.