Managed IT Services: What Is Continuity Planning?

Posted by on March 24, 2023

If you're researching IT network services and managed IT services, you may have come across the term "continuity planning." Here's what that means--and why it's an important part of any business.

Continuity Planning and Managed IT Services

Many IT network services and managed IT services offer continuity planning as part of their overall package. But what does that mean? Let's take a closer look:

What Is Continuity Planning?

Continuity planning is an approach that helps you plan for the worst. That can sometimes refer to accidents and natural disasters, but these days, it's most often about cybersecurity attacks such as data breaches or malware. With continuity planning, you focus on three key things:

What the biggest risks are.
How to avoid, minimize, or overcome them.
What to do if an event does occur.

Why Do You Need Continuity Planning?

Continuity planning keeps your business running even when times are tough. It gives you the insight, information, and plans necessary to navigate tricky situations and minimize downtime or other damage. Essentially, continuity planning is an "emergency preparedness plan" for your business.

How Can Managed IT Services and IT Network Services Help?

Because so much of continuity planning relies on tech, this approach naturally falls under the managed IT umbrella. Your provider can help you with many continuity planning tasks, such as:

Identifying cybersecurity risks.
Implementing tools and solutions to protect your data.
Creating backups and redundancies.
Building step-by-step plans for worst-case scenarios.

Your provider will also help you test your continuity plan to make sure everyone knows exactly what to do. You can also update or refine different parts of your plan as you learn what works and what doesn't.

Conclusion

Continuity planning is all about keeping your business on its feet. Whether that means preparing for potential natural disasters or understanding what the latest cybersecurity threats look like, the goal is to keep you up and running no matter what.

Testimonials

Our company has been working with Hilyard’s since we opened.

The service is great! Anytime we have a problem a tech is available almost immediately.

Our account executive is on top of everything and often reaches out to ensure that everything is going well.

Ali Charowsky | DHIN - Delaware Health Information Network
St. Elizabeth High School has been a client with Hilyard's for two decades and we have received wonderful customer service through our account representative and the service representatives who come to our campus. Over the years, we feel we have come to know the Hilyard's personnel as knowledgeable and qualified professionals as well as supportive participants to our academic and school improvement initiatives. With their assistance, our offices have been able to network copy machines to computer workstations to economize time and resources. On each level of our administration as a school- advancement, educational program, faculty and staff - the company has demonstrated a genuine understanding of the educational environment and budget when suggesting products and offering services. We are very pleased with all aspects of our association with Hilyard's.

Shirley W. Bounds | St. Elizabeth High School
Hilyard's came to my workplace and made a commitment that they could meet our needs and we would not have to worry about our equipment. They were right! Since we made the move to Hilyard's 4 years ago, the decision has never been regretted. It was their rapid service and professionalism that wowed us! We look forward to having them take care of our equipment needs for a long time! Keep up the great work!

Tony Browning | Hirsh Industries