Fortunately, natural disasters, power failures, ice storms, hurricanes, tropical storms, fires, snowstorms, earthquakes and floods do not shut down every business in their path.
Business owners with no disaster preparedness plan become acutely aware of their vulnerabilities at these times. Facilities faced with voluntary or mandatory evacuations or lock down become acutely aware of how vulnerable their office, building, school or agency is. In today’s environment, every business should be taking basic security measures to secure their assets to insure business continuity.
An estimated 25% of businesses fail to reopen in the wake of a major disaster, according to the Institute for Business and Safety. This can be due to catastrophic property loss or inability to resume operations, but many businesses are forced to close because of loss or theft of assets, inventory or data. Basic security systems can help organizations protect their assets and resume operations quickly, while minimizing financial impact of the event.
A summer 2008 survey of small businesses by Office Depot found that nearly 40% of respondents admit they have no prepared for a disaster, or plan to get prepared for a disaster. One of the most efficient and cost effective ways to secure your assets is by securing access to business, municipality, school and commercial property and assets.
The same survey businesses that did have a disaster protection plan in place found that doing so did not require significant time or money to implement. Yet, the reason cited by 37% of the 5000 small business professionals with no disaster plan cited that they simply had not taken the time. 17% say it was too expense to build a plan, and 11% admitted they simply didn’t know what to do in order to prepare their business for a disaster.
“Most businesses could implement an emergency preparedness plan using basic access control security systems or surveillance cameras for under - $5,000.00”, explains Joe Masciocco, founder of www.2020security.com an online discount reseller of security hardware and software. He explained, “The investment in a security system and continuity plan is easy to justify when you consider the time and expense required to recover lost assets.”
5 tips for businesses ready to start a preparedness plan:
1. Prepare for Emergency Lock Down – This could be due to a natural disaster, access control breach, terrorism or criminal event. Proximity Card or Biometric security systems are just one of many ways to secure entry and exit of the physical premises and greatly enhance immediate command of the situation. Security systems can be configured to control doors, elevators, equipment and software remotely or on site.
2. Control Access Day to Day – Many businesses have not yet considered what they would do if someone walked off the street into their place of business, but doing so can have significant benefits in managing access for employees, customers and vendors, promoting protection of day-to-day business operations. This can be achieved through smart cards and readers, intercom, surveillance camera, biometric or keypad entry systems.
3. Promote a watchful eye – Use surveillance systems using dome cameras, closed circuit TV (CCTV) to discourage inappropriate or illegal behavior in areas of public access or sensitivity. Cameras, digital video recorders (DVRs) and monitoring systems are available in a wide variety of form factors suitable to any budget and can easily integrate into more sophisticated security systems.
4. Prepare for disaster recovery of your IT assets – The most valuable asset of most organizations is their data, which is maintained and archived on premises. But what if there were a fire or unexpected impact on your premises? Planning to back up your data regularly and storing remotely can greatly improve your ability to resume operations after an unplanned or catastrophic event.
5. Build an immediate, 1 year and 5 year security plan – When your business grows, so will your assets. Continuity is dependent upon planning and implementation, so take pen to paper and determine what requires protection and how you will achieve that level of security now and as your business evolves.
More information and access to over 10,000 discounted security systems for small business, organizations, municipalities, schools and commercial properties can be found at www.2020securityproducts.com.
About 2020Security.com:
2020Security.com is an online discount distributor of security hardware, software and access control systems. An authorized reseller for some of the most reliable high security products and solutions in the industry, including HID, Software House, Pelco, Hirsch, American Dynamics and Securitron, 2020Security.com offers over 10,000 access control, surveillance, smart card, biometric, DVR, IP, network security hardware, software, peripherals and accessories online at deeply discounted prices.
2020Security.com offers “Virtual Security Integration Services” provide state-of-the-
2020Security.com Contact info:
Joe Masciocco
info@2020Security.com
(518) 452-3505
