Winter’s terrible grip still keeps businesses across the country shut down and struggling to make ends meet.

It seems like winter just won’t end this year! We’ve seen storm after storm hammer down over the last month, and the most recent, Winter Storm Thor, has one of the worst yet. With such a mighty name, it’s no surprise that the impact of this storm has been devastating.

Thor is widespread and has affected several states from California to the East Coast this past weekend. In Lexington, Kentucky, Thor broke a record for snowfall over two days which had been held since January 26 & 27 of 1943. Parts of Kentucky have gotten as much as 20 inches of snow from Thor.

And that’s not the worst:

• A plane skidded off a snowy runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
• Drivers were stranded in Interstate 65 in Kentucky for upwards of 12 hours on Thursday morning due to conditions.
• State of Emergency has been declared in New Jersey, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi as well as select areas of West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and 10 deaths have already been reported.
• The majority of transit, schools, and Government offices in Washington D.C have been closed.

What does this mean for your business? Have your employees been able to even get to the office with all the ice and snow on the roads? Are your clients’ needs being taken care of?

Too many Houston businesses just aren’t prepared to weather storms like Thor. The longer business operations are out of commission because of the weather, the more time and money is wasted, and the more your reputation is damaged.

That’s why CITOC follows a robust Business Continuity Plan to keep our operations running smoothly during the worst of storms, and all our clients turn to us for the same protection.

• Employees work remotely accessing work data via cloud technologies.
• Automatic communications sent out to clients assuring them they’ll still be taken care of during the storm.
• Important files and applications are backed up just in case in-office equipment is damaged.
• Email and phones are still running in the cloud even if the power goes out.
• Policies for completing operations from home are put in place in case the office is closed for days.

And if you think Winter Storm Thor sounds bad, the next one down the pipe is Winter Storm Ultima. With a name like that, who knows what’s in store for your business? Make sure you’re not stranded by yet again, more ice and snow.

Call CITOC at (713) 490-5000 to book your no-obligation business continuity assessment.