"Prevention Is Better Than Cure" says Birmingham IT company

Online, March 17, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Supreme Systems, the Birmingham based Microsoft Gold Partner, has launched a campaign to encourage businesses to plan for the unexpected by putting in place Business Continuity Plans.

The idea for the campaign was born following concerns by businesses forced to close due to incidences such as the floods in parts of the West Midlands and the recent snowstorms, because they had failed to implement contingency plans to counteract against potential problems such as damage to their hardware and key staff not being able to come into work.

"We implement Business Continuity Plans for all our customers as we understand why planning for the unforeseen is key to every business's success" says Steve Palmer, Technical Services Director, Supreme Systems. "Recently, a customer's server was damaged in a flood. All his critical business data was at risk, staff were unable to work and business had come to a standstill. For many other businesses this may well have been a huge disaster but because we developed a Business Continuity Plan for the client his systems were fully operational within a 24 hour period. Had this not been the case, the consequences could have been devastating."

Potential bad weather is another reason why businesses should have a Business Continuity Plan. According to a study conducted by the Forum of Private Businesses (FPB) employee absenteeism because of bad weather could cost businesses as much as £230 million per year. "Employees make businesses grow and losing key staff because of the weather, even for just a day, is very damaging, particularly in the current economic climate," says the FPB's Research Manager, Tom Parry. "It is important that employers put in place contingency plans for these occasions".

"Things happen" says Steve Palmer. "Accidents will happen, hardware can become faulty, fires are a possibility, and there are circumstances beyond your control such as bad weather. By putting in place sufficient safeguards to guard against the unexpected, business losses can be mitigated".

Supreme Systems is an IT provider, providing IT Support, IT Services and IT Consultancy for businesses in Birmingham and the West Midlands.