Will your credit union be ready when disaster strikes?

Only about one-third of small or medium-size U.S. businesses have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, according to Gartner, a technology and research advisory firm.

That statistic doesn’t surprise Paul Sullivan, vice president and general manager at Agility Recovery, a CUNA Strategic Services alliance provider. He’s often surprised by how many credit unions don’t have a recovery plan in place.

“I always look at credit unions as being the backbone of the community,” he says. “You should be there to protect the members, no matter what.”

September is National Preparedness Month, so Credit Union Directors Newsletter sought insight from Sullivan about issues boards should consider when assessing their business continuity capability and approving their NCUA-mandated recovery plans.

Q What are the key elements to a successful disaster response?

Sullivan: First, you need a plan. But a plan is just a piece of paper.

Second, you also need a place to go should your facility become unusable. That mitigates risk because you need to restore operations as quickly as possible. You don’t want to put doubt in anyone’s mind because it’s far too easy for consumers to take their business elsewhere.

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