Partner XE’s Software as a Service model, which gives you secure online hosting for your agency management system, will protect your data in the event of an emergency. It is up to you, however, to make sure that all your data and records are in the agency software system, that you utilize DOCBox to its fullest, and that you go paperless as much as possible. It is also up to you to have appropriate lists of contact information handy, to know your carriers’ CAT plans, and to take a variety of other disaster preparedness steps which fall outside the realm of your insurance agency software.
Because of the importance of this subject, and our commitment to helping you grow, we would like to share an article on the subject, entitled, “It’s Time to Update Your Disaster Plan,” written by Jeff Yates, Executive Director of ACT (Agents Council for Technology) (need link). Among other things, his recommendations include:
- Pre-plan. Have redundancy in communications, Internet access, and back ups.
- Make arrangements with third party emergency resources.
- Become paperless; implement download & real-time.
- Understand critical nature of good data back-ups to recovery.
- Take advantage of wireless technologies for voice and data, as well as the portability of PCs and portable devices.
- Have emergency contact info for employees, customers, carriers, and third party emergency resources. Have needed lists of information.
- Make sure employees & customers know how to reach you.
- Know your carriers’ CAT plans.
- Carefully evaluate the E&O exposures that arise in these situations and manage them.
We encourage you to read Jeff’s complete article.
