Begin developing your disaster recovery plan by identifying the potential risks to your IT infrastructure. Possible dangers may include events like hardware failure, power loss, cybercrime, fire, or flood. In some cases, the type of risk will dictate the appropriate DRP action. If you identify hurricanes as a risk, for example, your DRP would need to include a provision for moving your operation to an alternative, unaffected site.

2. DOCUMENT ALL YOUR IT RESOURCES

You will need to make a full inventory of all your IT resources. This inventory should include all your hardware, data, and applications. You will also need to know which skills will be required to recover each of these resources should they be lost. When you are preparing your inventory of resources, it is imperative to be thorough. Even a small application or data file could be a critical element of your overall IT system.

3. PRIORITIZE THE RECOVERY

The next step in your disaster recovery planning should be to prioritize the order in which you will need to bring your computer systems back online. This prioritization will be based on how critical each application is to your business. You will need to consider any interdependencies between your various applications. It’s helpful to create a timeline for getting each system operational again.

4. ASSIGN A DISASTER RECOVERY LOCATION

Should your business premises become unusable, you will need to procure an alternative location. It would be best to identify a suitable place to run your business from, before you need it, as a part of your DRP. If you already operate your business from multiple locations, you could consider designated space in your existing premises as a disaster recovery location. Or, if you work from a single site, you could investigate the option of taking up a short-term lease in a local serviced office facility.

5. PLAN THE ACQUISITION OF REPLACEMENT HARDWARE

A large company may maintain a full suite of hardware off-site as a part of its DRP strategy. However, a smaller enterprise will probably need to acquire new hardware in the event of a disaster. Speed will be of the essence when you are recovering from an IT disaster. So, include in your DRP several reliable sources of replacement hardware.

6. CREATE A DATA AND APPLICATION BACKUP PLAN

A crucial part of any disaster recovery plan is the backing up of data and applications, and, of course, ensuring that backups are held off-site. Your inventory of IT systems will have identified all the critical data that needs backing up. Your DRP will need to document the order in which systems and data will need to be restored. Backups of essential data should be taken on a grandfather-father-son basis, a backup rotation system that uses different media for each backup to guard against data corruption.

7. APPOINT A DISASTER RECOVERY TEAM

To ensure a smooth recovery from a disaster, you will need to appoint personnel to a disaster recovery team. Each team member should know their role and be fully versed in the recovery plan. If you can, it would be best to designate backup members for each of the team’s functions to cover for employee absences. You will also need to document the lines of authority and communication in your DRP.

8. WRITE A DETAILED DISASTER RECOVERY PROCEDURE

Your disaster recovery plan should include detailed procedures for the restoration of your IT systems. It is not sufficient to have an action point of “Restore Finance System,” for example. A DRP needs to include instructions on how the system is to be restored. Documenting procedures in detail will ensure that critical systems can be brought back online, even if key employees are absent from work.

9. TEST YOUR DRP

What looks good in theory may not work in practice. So, you need to test your DRP regularly. Carrying out frequent tests of your disaster recovery plan will help ensure that systems will be fully restored within the targeted timeframe. Testing will also provide employees with the opportunity to practice their disaster recovery roles.

10. KEEP YOUR DRP CURRENT

Finally, last year’s disaster recovery plan is unlikely to meet your needs in the coming years. So, someone will need to be appointed to keep your DRP up to date. The DR manager will need to be notified of all new hardware and software added to your IT resources and of any changes to the location and setup of systems. Risks to your IT infrastructure will need to be regularly reviewed and documented as well.

CONCLUSION

Some of the above steps may be overkill for a small business. However, the principles contained in each point can be scaled to fit smaller organizations. The crucial point is that, regardless of business size, having an up-to-date disaster recovery plan will help minimize the disruption to business that an IT disaster can cause.

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The post 10 Tips for Developing a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) first appeared on STEP Software.

The point-of-sale system records detailed data concerning product sales, customer service productivity and inventory levels on a real-time basis, a feature that is not always provided by enterprise software packages. All of these factors influence purchasing, staffing and planning decisions. At the very minimum, the point-of-sale system tracks merchandise sales from a volume and a dollar amount. The system can track cash sales, credit sales, layaways and consignments. These details can be analyzed for business insight, including which items are being purchased and the dollar amounts of sales for each sales category. This report helps a business owner know which products and services to promote to improve their bottom line.

For example, if a POS system shows that more toys are put into layaway during November than are sold during cash transactions, then the store can promote its layaway service approaching and throughout that month to maximize toy sales. The point-of-sale system also tracks markdowns, discounts and returns. It can even discount certain items during a particular time frame automatically, which is highly useful for stores that enjoy holding special events during which selected items are on sale only at certain times, a common feature of many “Black Friday” promotions.

MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS

Sales volume can also be broken down on a daily and even hourly basis, which is a fundamental piece of information needed to make intelligent staffing decisions. For example, if a point-of-sale system indicates that the bulk of in-store sales occurs between the hours of 3 pm and 7 pm, then the logical conclusion would be to staff the store more heavily during those hours. Further, if the system shows that one customer service representative is consistently a top producer or a low producer, this information would factor into scheduling, advancement and compensation considerations. A POS system can also identify the results of issuing store coupons, offering a discount package or hosting a special in-store event, providing the retailer with the data to calculate the ROI on a particular marketing technique easily and immediately.

Because the point-of-sale system provides inventory information in real-time, it can prevent those embarrassing moments when an advertised special is out of stock. As the inventory level reaches a critical point, a call can go out either for expedited delivery or for merchandise to be transferred in from another location or distribution center. For a restaurateur, the ability to effectively manage perishable inventory is critical to the profitability of the operation. Being able to gauge inventory turn and implementing a just-in-time system would reduce the amount of stock that is thrown away because it is past its expiration date, ensuring that customer demand for specific dishes can continue to be met.

STAY RELEVANT WITH POS-ASSISTED CUSTOMER INTERACTIONS

A POS system can benefit customer service staff by creating a relational sales environment. Because the system can make customer data available at the time of sale, a staff member could suggest additional items based on the customer’s previous purchases. Some POS databases contain messages specific to customers, such as indicating that a special discount is available or that the customer has earned loyalty or reward points as part of a customer retention program. These tools can help customer service to promote your services and produce additional sales. The customer database can also include warnings to the salesclerk if a customer has a history of writing bad checks or having a credit card declined.

Finally, many point-of-sale systems ship with additional features that help streamline the sales process. Some of these features include the ability to issue e-receipts, to be integrated into online sales efforts, and to enhance customer management by automatically sending e-mailed promotions, service reminders or thank-you notes. A few even have scales for weighing loose items such as bakery items, confectionery or hardware. The POS-integrated scales calculate sales done by weight to a fraction, meaning that every ounce that is produced and sold will be accounted for.

THE BOTTOM LINE

A point-of-sale system is an essential tool that helps to increase sales, decrease inventory shortages or overages, create better-targeted marketing campaigns and reduce shrinkage. When used in conjunction with the additional features provided by enterprise software systems, the result is better decision-making and increased profitability.

The post How Point-of-Sale Software Enhances an Enterprise Software System first appeared on STEP Software.