Hurricane IT checklist for South Florida businesses

The short answer. A business survives a hurricane with four things in place before the season starts: everything important backed up somewhere the storm cannot reach, a way for the team to work from anywhere, phones that follow people instead of the building, and a written plan that says who does what when the county issues a watch. Everything below is that plan, in order.

Before the season (June 1)

• Move what you can to the cloud. Email, files and phones in Microsoft 365 and a cloud phone system keep working when the office has no power. Servers that must stay on site need a cloud replica or a tested backup elsewhere.
• Verify backups, then restore something. A backup is proven by a restore. Restore one server and one mailbox to a test location and time it. Keep at least one copy outside South Florida.
• Inventory equipment and document the network. A list of every device, its location and its login, plus a network drawing, saved where you can reach it from your phone.
• Power protection. Battery backup (UPS) on firewalls, switches and servers, sized to shut them down cleanly. A generator is optional; clean shutdown is not.
• Remote work rehearsal. Every employee proves once that they can sign in, take a call and reach their files from home, with multi-factor authentication working.
• Vendor contacts. Internet carrier, phone provider, IT provider, insurer and landlord, with account numbers, printed and in the cloud.

When a watch is issued (48 to 72 hours out)

• Confirm the last backup completed and copy it off site.
• Charge laptops and phones; send laptops home with staff who might not return for days.
• Forward the main number to the cloud phone system or to mobiles, and set the hours message.
• Photograph the server room and equipment for the insurer.
• Decide who has authority to declare "work from home" and how staff will be told (a text group, not email).

When a warning is issued (24 to 36 hours out)

• Shut down servers cleanly and power off network equipment; unplug them.
• Raise equipment off the floor; cover it in plastic if the roof is a question.
• Take the backup drive, if there is one, with you.
• Post the "we are open remotely" notice on Google, the website and voicemail.

During the storm

• Nobody goes to the office. Remote support stays available for staff working from home.
• Monitor the carrier's outage map; note when internet drops at the office for the insurer.

After the storm

• Inspect before you power on. Water, heat and surges kill equipment that looks fine. We check the room, the UPS logs and the power quality before anything is switched on.
• Restore connectivity first, then servers, then workstations, in the order that gets revenue back.
• Document damage with photos and serial numbers before anything is moved; file the claim within the policy window.
• Replace anything that got wet. Corroded equipment fails weeks later, usually during a busy day.
• Hold a 30-minute review: what worked, what did not, what changes before next season.

The two mistakes that cost the most

Assuming the backup worked because the software said so, and keeping the only copy of the phone system in the building. Both are fixed in an afternoon.

Questions