Phase 01 · Pre-Storm

Before the storm: the work that decides everything.

Most businesses that struggle after a hurricane did not fail during the storm — they failed in the weeks before it when preparation was possible. This phase is where readiness is built, not bought.

Lead time

72 hours

Decision window

T-48h to T-24h

Outcome

Continuity, not chaos

Assess your exposure

Start with the systems your business cannot operate without. Map them to people, locations, and dependencies. You cannot protect what you have not named.

Inventory critical systems, applications, and data stores
Identify single points of failure (one person, one site, one vendor)
Document RTO (recovery time) and RPO (data loss tolerance) for each system
Confirm geographic redundancy on hosting and backups

Build the continuity plan

A plan that lives in someone's head is not a plan. Write it, distribute it, and rehearse it. Plans rehearsed twice a year outperform plans that exist only on paper.

Define incident command roles and decision authority
Document failover, failback, and escalation runbooks
Pre-write client and employee communication templates
Schedule at least one tabletop exercise per quarter

Prepare people and infrastructure

Equipment without trained people is shelf-ware. Run the readiness drill on both sides — your tech stack and your team.

Issue remote work kits (laptop, hotspot, charger, headset)
Verify VPN, MFA, and remote tools from employee homes
Top off generator fuel, UPS batteries, and on-call rotation
Pre-position spares and confirm vendor escalation paths

Take the readiness assessment Download readiness checklist