Proactive Planning Requires a Risk Assessment

Was your organization ready to work under the conditions created by the pandemic? If you had done a risk assessment, you were likely more prepared than others—even if a pandemic wasn’t something you included as a high probability risk.

A risk assessment is a process where you identify the hazards that could negatively impact your organization’s ability to conduct business.

Equally important, you’ll identify measures, processes, and controls to reduce the impact of these risks.

Here’s an overview of the steps:

Step #1:  Identify the hazards or risks to your business.
These could include natural disasters, utility outages, supply chain storage, and cyberattacks. We have a template to get your juices flowing.

Step #2:  Determine what or who could be harmed.
Business assets that might be at risk include business operations, IT systems, or even employee safety.

Step #3:  Evaluate the risks and develop control measures.
At this point in the process, you’ll want to identify both the impact and the likelihood that the hazard will occur. This process will help prioritize which control measures to put in place first to eliminate or reduce the impact on the organization.

Step #4:  Record your findings.
It’s important to document the risk assessment findings and control measures in a place that is easy to find in the event something occurs.

Step #5:  Review and update your risk assessment regularly.
Things change rapidly. Smart organizations are alert and flexible and are able to pivot and adapt.

Don’t rely on the roll of the dice when it comes to assessing potential risks to your organization. Be proactive and plan for IT!

Need help putting together your organization’s risk assessment? Contact IT Radix today!

We’ll be happy to help you get a handle on your potential business risks and put good technology solutions in place to minimize or manage your exposure and keep your organization moving forward today.

First published in our October 2022 IT Radix Resource newsletter