By Accelerite Guest Blog

The 2014 Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season commenced on May 15 and the Atlantic Hurricane Season began a couple weeks later, on June 1. The Weather Channel and others have chronicled the season in the Eastern Pacific as a record start, with two hurricanes, Amanda and Cristina, having already reached Category 4 status.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index, which combines the size, wind speed and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes into a single number, stood at a record high for mid-June (with statistics dating to 1971), about 6 times the average for this time of year.

As hurricanes and tropical storms move inland, the high winds are frequently accompanied by deluges that drastically increase the threat of flooding in areas outside the direct path of the storm.  In fact, twenty-four states were impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and businesses and residents as far inland as West Virginia experienced power outages and flooding.

As we approach the 10^th anniversary since the devastation wreaked on New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, planning will be top of mind for communities and business through this year’s hurricane season, which extends all the way to November 30.  

Disaster and the impact on SMBs

While FEMA estimates 40 percent of small businesses do not reopen after a disaster, we believe it does not have to be this way.  

As an MSP, a principal responsibility involves preserving uptime for your customers’ businesses—or, said another way, helping clients prepare for downtime events or shepherding them through a disaster when one occurs. 

Accelerite can also help your MSP business be better prepared with your disaster recovery scenarios. Failover testing and consulting are included as a part of your service with Accelerite. The Accelerite Recovery Support Team amasses decades of IT experience from a wide range of industries, including MSPs, healthcare, financial/trading floor, manufacturing, gaming, ISP hosting, broadcasting, pharmaceutical, and more.

We also invite you to tune in for past and future Accelerite discussions and to register for our upcoming webinars (for instance, our July 10th webinar: Disaster Recovery: 5 Tips to Get Your Customers Ready), so you may be better prepared to tackle any uptime challenges that come your way.

Matt Miller is Senior Manager, Marketing Communications at Accelerite. His experience and interests traverse cloud, cybersecurity, economics, privacy, and risk management.