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When you flick a switch you take it for granted that your lights, computer, air conditioning, coffee machine, etc. will seamlessly spring into life and that you will be able to work, be cool and drink coffee, right? Well, apparently you shouldn’t take it for granted. Emerson Network Power commissioned a study of small businesses in 2008 and found that:

·         79% of those surveyed experienced a power loss in 2007

·         42% closed their businesses during long term outages

·         39% had a plan to restore power

Look at those numbers and then think about this: if only 39% had a plan to restore power, then what about the vast majority? That is quite something when you consider that the business owners surveyed ranked power outages above fire, government regulation, weather damage, theft, employee turnover and stray meteorites as potential threats to their businesses. So…they ranked power outages as the biggest threat to their businesses, but only 39% of them had a plan for dealing with them? Really?

Here’s what you can do…call your electrician. Find out the phase, voltage and number of amps needed for your building or office electrical supply. Write those numbers down somewhere; they will dictate the type of generator you will need. Next, consider the installation options. If, and when, your power goes out will you utilize a spider box or transfer switch? If using a transfer switch, some pre-work will be needed to ensure you can be back up and running quickly. Then, do some research on fuel suppliers because, no, generators do not run on fresh air. Write all that down too.  Also, it would be quite helpful to know where to get a generator from, so you’d better write that down as well.  After all this, take your notes and incorporate them into your disaster recovery plan and make sure your key people know about it.

There, now you can get back to sitting in your nice well lit, air conditioned office, checking out this blog on your computer, and sipping a hot cup of coffee, safe in the knowledge that if the lights go out you know how to get them back on again.  Of course, if you’d rather just leave it all to chance (or the local utility company) you could always go out back and burn a big pile of money instead.

To learn more take a look at our Best Practices for Recoveries Powered by a Generator presentation. For more information, visit www.agilityrecovery.com or call 866.364.9696.

Has anyone signed a contract with a fuel vendor? I’ve been told it’s good to have a contract in place, just in case of a regional event, I’ll be on a priority list. If you’ve signed one, did it cost anything? Are you locked into a certain price per gallon?

I don’t have a generator on hand and don’t plan to secure one for a short-term power outage. But if a storm blows through and the power is expected to be out for a couple days or longer, I’ll need a generator to power our server room and phones, at the least.

Do I have to pre-wire my office/building to handle a generator or can I worry about that if/when it’s needed?

This may be a silly question … but has anyone ever felt silly putting Agility on alert or declaring a disaster? I’m not talking about a big “disaster,” but small ones like server failures and power outages.I want to take full advantage of my Agility membership, but don’t want to waste my time or theirs.