Upgrading to any new system or infrastructure can be a trying time for an organization, with the potential for mistakes being a threat to business continuity akin to a natural disaster. Depending on the extent of the improvements and how many systems are affected, companies may want to consider updating their continuity of operations plan to take technology upgrades into account and prepare for a potential shutdown should errors occur.

Ideally, any tech upgrade will improve workflow, but human error or unanticipated systems incompatibility could cause a complete halt of productivity if a firm isn't prepared. This is why having a working, tested disaster recovery strategy in place can boost IT growth. In order to support new IT investments, however, businesses need to ensure their continuity strategy is up-to-date. In order to accomplish this, there are several steps that have to be taken:

• Identify risks – A business impact analysis will help a company consider what the risks associated with their new technology deployment are, as well as the best approach to eliminating them will be. According to Dell's Tech Page One blog, this can include anything from costs to how the new system will affect business agility.
• Stick with infrastructure decisions – Once risks have been identified and understood, a company needs to make key infrastructure decisions. If the current infrastructure will support the new systems, this means assessing how many changes can be made until a complete infrastructure overhaul will be needed.
• Plan accordingly – Once these steps have been taken, a company simply needs to update its continuity plan and be prepared for whatever the next technology innovation will be.

Bringing on expert business continuity consultants can help expedite these processes and ensure the right plan is in place for any contingency, whether its a natural disaster or cloud migration.