As the 2025 hurricane season approaches, Managed IT provider Bit-Wizards is helping area businesses prepare with comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery solutions designed to keep operations running through severe weather events.

• With hurricane season officially beginning June 1, the Fort Walton Beach-based company provides extensive resources regarding business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) to ensure local businesses remain operational during storms that frequently target Florida’s Gulf Coast.

“Every year we see businesses along the Gulf Coast and throughout the state get caught off guard by hurricane season,” said Brian Schlechter, Director of IT at Bit-Wizards. “The difference between a company that survives a major storm and one that doesn’t often comes down to how well they’ve prepared their IT infrastructure beforehand.”

Bit-Wizards specializes in preparing businesses for hurricane threats through cloud migration, secure backup systems and remote work capabilities — three critical components that determine whether companies can continue operating during evacuation scenarios.

The stakes for unprepared businesses are significant. According to Federal Emergency Management Agency data referenced in Bit-Wizards’ resources, 25% of businesses fail to reopen after a disaster strikes, making proper hurricane preparation an existential concern for many Gulf Coast companies.

• “That 25% statistic isn’t just a number – it represents real local businesses and the livelihoods they support,” Schlechter noted. “We’ve had companies come to us for help after losing their data and systems in an emergency, and there unfortunately isn’t much any IT provider can do to help them thrive again if they didn’t make the right preparations ahead of time.”

Beyond physical damage to equipment, Bit-Wizards’ hurricane preparedness information highlights the substantial financial impact of data loss and operational downtime. Local businesses face potential losses ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment damage alone, while data destruction can permanently cripple operations and damage client relationships, according to Bit-Wizards.

Cloud-based solutions represent the cornerstone of Bit-Wizards’ hurricane preparedness approach for local businesses. Unlike traditional on-site systems vulnerable to storm damage, cloud migration allows businesses to operate from anywhere with internet access during evacuations.

“When your entire operation is cloud-based, it doesn’t matter if your office building loses power or even gets damaged,” Schlechter explained. “Your team can work from anywhere and your customers won’t even know you’ve evacuated.”

Through services like Microsoft 365 with Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint, Bit-Wizards helps businesses maintain communication and document access even when employees evacuate to different locations. Their BCDR solutions ensure operations continue seamlessly, often without clients realizing a disaster has occurred.

• Bit-Wizards’ hurricane preparedness resources emphasize multiple backup systems as critical elements of effective disaster recovery plans. The firm tailors backup strategies to business complexity, from economical online backups for smaller companies to sophisticated solutions for multi-location businesses with complex networks.

“We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions, meaning we look at a company’s industry and stick to their respective best practices,” said Schlechter. “A retail shop has different needs than a multi-location construction company. Our job is to create a comprehensive BCDR plan that fits their risk profile and covers everything they have, not just what they think is important.”

Additional preparedness measures promoted by Bit-Wizards include protocols for relocating critical equipment and positioning valuable technology on upper floors to avoid flood damage. Their resources stress that effective disaster recovery focuses on prevention rather than reaction.

• “The time to think about hurricane preparedness isn’t when you’re watching the Weather Channel track a storm heading your way,” Schlechter emphasized. “It’s right now, during the calm months, when you can make thoughtful decisions about protecting your business.”

Through managed IT services, Bit-Wizards helps local businesses implement cloud migration, verify backup integrity and develop comprehensive disaster recovery planning before hurricane threats materialize.

With proper planning and technology implementation guided by local expertise, Gulf Coast businesses can significantly reduce hurricane-related risks, maintain operations during severe weather events and avoid becoming part of the 25% of businesses that never reopen after disasters.For more information provided by Bit-Wizards on the importance of business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) related to hurricane season, please visit: Cloud – Hurricane preparedness and recovery, How a hurricane can cost your business and Developing a disaster recovery plan.