On vacation, forgetting your sunscreen may lead to a painful burn, but forgetting key components of an organization's business continuity (BC)/disaster recovery (DR) plan hurts a lot more. Overlooking even one item can weaken your entire network and mean significant losses in revenue and productivity.

In addition to sun burns, this time of the year often means hurricanes, tornados, severe thunderstorms, flooding and other network-threatening events. Whatever the cause of a major disruption to your network, don't waste time playing catch-up. Small and midsized businesses (SMB) should have a more methodical process than the common mental check list used for packing for a vacation. A well-managed and tested /DR plan will help prevent costly downtime and reduce inconvenience to workers.

Whether you are just getting started or refreshing an outdated plan, there is something to help SMBs make sure they are covered – running a business impact analysis. A BIA can help define key BC/DR needs. Even better, often times a trusted technology partner can provide assistance, running the analysis and delivering an objective assessment of what your organization needs to survive – literally and figuratively.

So what exactly is a BIA? A BIA is a breakdown of the potential risks and real vulnerabilities an organization is facing, and it provides direction for minimizing and mitigating the risks before they become a real problem. More so, it identifies the components of an organization's infrastructure that have the greatest business impact – making it clear which components require greater attention when it comes to allocating budget and other resources for BC/DR plans. ()