Disaster planning has never been a fun topic to discuss. Manyorganizations think they are prepared, but don't go beyond thetraditional catastrophic/emergency preparedness strategies for whena disaster strikes. Insurers need to have a clear approach abouthow their business will continue both during and after a majordisaster.

Disasters used to be a lot easier to define. They typically cameas a result of bad weather, such as a hurricane, flood or tornado,and meant that business may be closed for a few days to clean up ifnone of your critical business systems were damaged. But what ifyour critical systems were fatally damaged? Have you thought aboutor added data security to your list of potential disasterthreats?

Today, all we have to do is turn on the news to hear of anotherorganization whose data was hacked and customer information stolen.Those incidents can cause a major blow to your brand's reputationand day-to-day business processes when news that your importantdata and documents aren't secure goes public.

In order to prevent the aforementioned scenario from happening,a well-planned enterprise content management (ECM) strategy playsan integral part of preparing for an organization's operations tostay uninterrupted when faced with a potentially devastatingemergency.

Many customers want to know how they can begin to plan fordisaster scenarios, which includes breach of information. Ask themthese three questions: What plans are already in place, howare you securing customer information and will you be able toeasily and quickly access critical documents and information in acrisis situation.

These are pretty simplistic questions, but when answering thesecond and third questions, most organizations start to secondguess their existing disaster preparedness strategies. That's whereECM experts can provide valuable insight that could save theirbusiness. Here are some tips to consider when developing a disasterpreparedness or business continuity plan:

1. Decrease your dependency onpaper
Paper is inefficient and inherently susceptibleto damage. Relying on paper as a record for important documentationleaves your organization vulnerable, especially during a disasterthat threatens damaged, lost or unobtainable physical files.

An ECM solution strengthens your business continuity plans byensuring you store your important documents and data within acentralized, protected system. By capturing paper documents assecure electronic documentation, you're allowed access to thosedocuments and content during and after the disaster. And becauseall this information is managed electronically, duplicate copies ofeverything are easily synchronized to off-site servers, ensuringyour data survives an event regardless of its location.

2. Consider cloudsolutions
Many software solutions can be entirelyhosted in the cloud. This way your data is not tied to a physicallocation. In the event you have to abandon the premises, you canretain continuous, uninterrupted access to the content you need tocontinue operations.

From an ECM perspective, the cloud can provide storage,processing and deployment functionality. Users not only have accessto content via web and mobile interfaces, but also have two-way ECMfunctionality using workflow, content editing, reporting, captureand more. This means in the event of a disaster, your employeeshave full access to all business processes, from anywhere, tocontinuing working and providing the best customer service.

3. Make sure your important data issecure
Before you select a vendor, ask about itscertifications for security guidelines. It's also important todiscuss data redundancy, making sure your data is backed up toseparate servers in the same datacenter and to a secondarydatacenter, in a different location, to allow for guaranteedrecovery time.

While ensuring the system is secured is a great first step, youstill may be vulnerable to a breach. Research shows that 60% oforganizations consider internal data breaches to be more concerningthan external issues. So in addition to providing your organizationwith external security, your vendor and solution should be able toreport on all aspects of your content, including who created it,who changed it, who viewed it and even who deleted it. A full audittrail will provide you with the visibility you need to make sureyour content is safe and secure.

As too many organizations discover, disasters can happen at anytime. Being prepared for the worst will help you continue toprovide business continuity – even as you are working to restorenormal operations. Having the right systems in place is a criticalpart of your disaster preparedness plan and will ensure that ifyour organization is affected, business won't come to ahalt.