Blame it on global warming or not, Tropical Storm Emily is the fifth named storm of the season at an unprecedented early date. As Emily rolls westward through the Caribbean on a path that may ultimately take her to Texas, she begs the question: does your company have a disaster recovery plan in place?

In an increasingly unpredictable world, the practice of disaster recovery has become standard operating procedure.

If you’re sitting in the path of a hurricane with a lot of data, you’ll do well to have it archived … well before the storm arrives. Computers are, generally speaking, replaceable … but you can’t buy your data back.

As the Small Business Administration suggests:

Ask yourself: what if the worst happened? How would it affect my business and my family? Would we survive if the business were closed down for weeks, months, or perhaps my entire revenue season? What can I do to make sure we survive?

While there are many layers to an effective disaster recovery plan — from the data archives to the uninterruptible power supplies and emergency power sources — it all starts with a list of names and numbers (both land line and cell).

Today’s the day to take the time to jot those down, if you haven’t already …

Related: Data Recovery Survey Results