Florence: First hand disaster recovery

As natural disasters have seemingly ramped up in frequency and scale over the last few decades, disaster recovery is on the mind of most credit union executives. Unfortunately, for some, disaster recovery planning never materializes until catastrophe is knocking on the door. However, depending on who your technology partner is, you can be prepared without constantly pouring over disaster recovery procedures.

As Hurricane Florence was forming off the coast of the Carolinas many credit unions that could potentially be affected by the approaching storm were busy taking precautionary measures. But credit unions were not alone in this effort. Many of their technology partners were proactive in contacting and reviewing disaster recovery protocols with their customers prior to the storm.

For large credit unions, disaster recovery plans are likely in place with a dedicated team ready to execute procedures straight out of their DR manual in the event of a storm like Florence. However, for some small credit unions, disaster recovery planning might not receive the attention it merits and the DR manual remains on the shelf collecting dust. This doesn’t mean those small credit unions aren’t concerned about disaster recovery, it simply demonstrates that small organizations have a finite amount of resources, staff and time to accomplish most of the same tasks that large credit unions do with what appears to be limitless resources. This is why receiving a phone call from a technology system expert when a disaster is approaching can be extremely comforting and reassuring.

Tiffany Bush, CEO of Lincoln National FCU (assets of $15 million) in Greensboro North Carolina shared, “A systems engineer from my core processing vendor called me several times leading up to Hurricane Florence. He simply wanted to check on us and verify everything was okay. He reviewed disaster recovery procedures with me and assisted in precautionary measures in the event of a power outage or flooding. He was even available Monday morning to ensure we were operational.”

Beyond moderate rain, Lincoln National FCU never did experience any issues or interruptions to their business continuity but preparation put in by both the credit union and the core processor did bring peace of mind in the event of a disaster. Tiffany continued, “Leading up to Florence, we knew that our core processing partner was there for us should anything happen. If we ever do have a disaster that would hit us hard, I feel confident they would take care of us and our member data.”