I recently heard some first-hand observations of agents who were victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita last summer, and it gave me food for thought. Some agents experienced property damage and loss of data they hadn't anticipated, as 30-foot storm surges sent waves as far as six miles inland. One vendor noted that many of its agency customers kept their back-up data offsite but only a few miles from their main offices, and both locations sustained hurricane damage. As a result, those agencies lost valuable data and had difficulty resuming their normal operations, despite having taken precautions to prevent just such an occurrence. So, how can agencies learn from this experience and prevent similar woes in the future?

One insurance company I know used the U.S. Postal Service as a mobile repository for its data back-up tapes. Each morning someone mailed the previous night's tapes to someone else in a distant city, who then mailed them back to the home office. The full cycle took about one week and seemed to be a secure, reliable and effective way to protect tapes from the elements. If you can work out a similar arrangement with a friend or family member in a distant location, this model might work for you too.

If you have multiple agency locations, another solution may be close at hand. Multiple offices can be electronically linked with a secure Internet connection called a virtual private network that acts like a personal data pipeline. A VPN provides seamless access to customer data at any of an agency's locations by storing copies of the data at all of them. For example, when a document is created at the agency's primary location, a copy is immediately sent to a second location using software such as Suresync. In effect, information at each location is continuously backed up to another of the agency's sites. The agency management system also can be backed up to another location using the VPN, minimizing the chance of data loss should a disaster befall one of the agency's offices.

Both of the above measures allow an agency to create redundancy, but only if it has two or more locations far enough apart that both–or all–are unlikely to sustain damage from the same event.

If you prefer turnkey solutions, agency management system vendors can combine virtual data access and customer service to benefit agencies during both normal operations and disaster recovery. An example is an application service provider (ASP) version of a system that resides remotely on the vendor's server. With such a system, the vendor assumes responsibility for back-ups and updates software with the most current releases, so the agency doesn't need to install periodic updates. The downside is that, if your Internet connection is inconsistent or unreliable, you may sometimes lose access to your system. Internet service providers (ISPs) generally deliver high-quality consistent service, but that may not always be the case, depending upon your location and available providers. With the ISP model, back-up Internet connections are recommended but add to the overhead cost. In some areas, you may experience problems with automatic crossover to the alternative Internet service provider when the primary one experiences an outage or disruption. (Our agency experienced that problem and ultimately abandoned the back-up system.) The good news is that if you lose your office's physical location, access to a PC and an Internet connection quickly re-establishes your agency in a virtual environment. With an ASP model, you can also purchase a service that allows your customers 24-hour access to you during normal operations and seamless access during a disaster-recovery period. CSR 24 (www.artizan.com) is an example. When disaster strikes, customers can log on to your Web site and click on a link to get information and assistance even before they can reach you physically. Agencies who use ASP management systems with such services as CSR 24 say they can quickly and effectively respond to customers during crises. Afterward, when they've shown how well they can weather a storm, new business increases dramatically and the agencies recover more quickly, making their investment in a virtual office a valuable one.

If you don't live in the path of hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis or wind-driven range fires, you still can suffer losses similar to those of Katrina and Rita victims. Ice storms, windstorms, earthquakes and even chemical spills can render you and your office inaccessible. If your customers need service following a catastrophe and you can't deliver it, your value as an agent diminishes. We can all learn from the unfortunate events of last year and better prepare ourselves for future disasters. The better we prepare for the unexpected and perform during trying times, the more likely we are to create a positive experience, even in the face of tragedy.