What Hurricane Season Taught Us: IT resilience for small businesses

At the start of the 2025 hurricane season, we talked about one thing: getting ahead of the storm. Not just with sandbags and bottled water, but with planning that keeps your business operational when the lights go out.

Now, as the season winds down, we’re looking back on what worked. Florida got lucky this year with no major hurricanes making landfall, but there were still plenty of storms that tested our systems and those of our clients.

And the results speak for themselves.

When the Lights Flicker, Systems Matter

Storms in Florida are unpredictable, and even short power outages can cause big disruptions. Our own building lost power during one of those storms, but we didn’t miss a beat.

Because we had a backup battery system and a cloud-based setup, our team seamlessly transitioned to remote work. Everyone still had access to what they needed. Phones stayed active, tickets stayed on track, and clients never felt the interruption.

That’s not luck. That’s preparation.

According to Deloitte’s 2025 Resilient Business Report, organizations that invest in operational resilience are 60% more likely to maintain full business continuity during unexpected disruptions. Preparation doesn’t just protect systems—it protects trust.

 

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The Role of a Reliable Phone System

One piece of tech that often gets overlooked in disaster prep? Your phone system.

If your phones are tied to your physical office, a power outage means silence. But with a cloud-based VoIP setup, your team can answer calls from anywhere. That’s how we stayed responsive during outages—and it’s how many of our clients did too.

Phones aren’t just for communication. They’re part of your business continuity plan.

Helping Our Community Stay Connected

We’ve seen firsthand how the right setup makes a difference. Before the 2024 hurricane season, we helped a local nonprofit, The Women’s Resource Center, transition to a hybrid cloud environment. Their goal was simple: stay connected to the community, even if their office went offline.

When the storms hit in 2025 and power flickered across the region, their systems stayed strong. Staff accessed files remotely, communication stayed live, and their mission continued uninterrupted.

That’s the kind of success that inspires us.

And we’ve lived it ourselves. During that same season, when our office lost power, we relied on our own resilient systems to stay operational. We worked remotely without downtime, ensuring our clients—and their communities—were never left waiting.

Cloud Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

Cloud technology is powerful, but it isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some businesses thrive entirely in the cloud, while others need hybrid setups that balance on-premise and online solutions.

As Gartner notes, the key to strong IT strategy is alignment—matching your technology to your business model, not the other way around. The right setup is the one that fits your team’s workflow and keeps you productive, secure, and connected.

 

Don’t wait for the next storm to test your systems.

Let’s make sure your business can weather anything.

Where to Start

If you’re wondering where to begin, ask yourself:

• What slows your team down the most?

• What stops working when you’re not in the office?

• What would happen if the power went out tomorrow?

These are your pressure points. Start by securing those areas.

For example:

• If your files live on a single computer, back them up to a cloud platform.

• If your phones only work in the office, consider a VoIP solution.

• If your processes rely on manual tasks, look into automation tools.

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once, just strengthen one system at a time.

Final Takeaways

As hurricane season comes to a close, here’s what experience (and data) tell us:

• Preparation pays off, even when the worst doesn’t happen.

• Centralized systems and cloud tools make remote work seamless.

• Reliable phone systems and backups are essential, not optional.

• The best solutions are the ones built around how your team actually works.

If you’re ready to make sure your business can weather anything, we’re here to help. Because when the next storm rolls in, you shouldn’t be scrambling—you should be working.

Better IT Is Waiting.