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“Everything we do is now reliant on IT,” says port consultant Budha Majumdar. “What if all your networks are down and everything you have been doing was lost and the IT man can’t tell you when the damaged cables will be repaired, or the server will be back up and running?”

A good emergency plan foresees this possibility. “You need to set up a system in which a third party holds your data, which is updated on a 24-hour basis. Everything you have is then backed up in a remote location; if there is a disaster, the company will be able to bring a 24 or 40-foot container into the port and set up PCs loaded with all your data up to that point.

“Everything doesn’t have to come to a standstill. You must be able to recover your office and IT and begin to build the business up again.”