Introduction
When disaster strikes—whether due to natural causes, cyberattacks, or utility failures—your organization can’t afford downtime. A strong tech continuity plan and checklist ensure you restore operations fast. We also explain why renting technology often outperforms buying in emergencies.
Why You Need a Continuity Tech Plan
When disaster strikes, many businesses find themselves without the hardware needed to stay operational. A well-prepared continuity tech plan ensures you’re not caught off guard. It reduces downtime, protects revenue, and empowers teams to stay productive—whether working remotely or from a temporary location. Just as important is how you source that equipment: renting vs. buying can significantly impact speed, cost, and flexibility during recovery.
Key reasons to have a continuity tech plan:
- Avoid being stranded without critical hardware
- Minimize downtime and financial loss
- Keep employees connected and working
- Make smarter decisions on tech acquisition (rent vs. buy)
- Ensure fast delivery from a rental provider with national coverage
Business Continuity Tech Checklist
1. Laptops & Desktop Workstations
- Business‑class hardware with essential software.
- Rental benefits: Pre-imaged machines ready to deploy—no IT setup required.
2. Networking Equipment
- Includes switches, firewalls, access points, cables.
- Rental benefits: Enterprise-grade gear delivered fast, with setup support.
3. Internet Connectivity
- 4G/5G hotspots, bonded wireless, satellite options.
- Rental benefits: Quick deployment without contracts—ideal when fixed lines fail.
4. Tablets, iPads & Smartphones
- Mobile devices for field use, signatures, and communications.
- Rental benefits: Easily scale mobile device counts without long-term inventory.
5. Servers & Storage
- Temporary servers or NAS for file/services continuity.
- Rental benefits: High-performance infrastructure, rented as needed.
6. Printers, Copiers & Scanners
- Essential for paper-driven workflows.
- Rental benefits: Office-grade gear delivered same day to sustain operations.
7. Monitors, Peripherals & Cables
- Dual monitors, docks, webcams, headsets, keyboards, adapters.
- Rental benefits: Quick resupply of missing tech without procurement delays.
Renting vs. Buying: A Comparative Analysis
1. Speed to Deployment
- Buying equipment during an emergency often involves delays—procurement approvals, vendor lead times, and backorders can stretch for days or even weeks. Even once delivered, devices typically require setup and configuration by your IT team, further delaying recovery.
- Renting, on the other hand, offers rapid deployment. Providers like Hartford Technology Rentals maintain ready-to-ship inventory and can often deliver fully configured equipment the same day or next, depending on your location. When time is critical, rental gives you a head start.
2. Cost Considerations
- Buying new equipment during a crisis means making large, unexpected capital expenditures. Even if the equipment is only needed temporarily, you’ll be stuck with the full purchase cost and ongoing maintenance responsibilities long after the crisis has passed. There’s also the risk of buying more than you need—or investing in the wrong configurations due to urgency.
- Renting shifts these expenses to an operational model—you pay only for what you need, for as long as you need it. This is especially valuable in short-term recovery periods or uncertain environments where permanent equipment may not be necessary. Plus, rental pricing is often more transparent and predictable. For a detailed breakdown of what different types of technology typically cost to rent, see our computer rental pricing guide.
3. Commitment Levels
- Buying locks you into a fixed inventory of technology—devices that may no longer serve a purpose once normal operations resume. You’ll need to store, track, and eventually dispose of excess equipment, which adds administrative and financial overhead.
- Renting offers full flexibility. Once you’re back to business as usual, you simply return the gear. There’s no long-term storage, no inventory management, and no waste. It’s an agile solution for a dynamic situation.
4. Preloaded Configurations
- Buying devices means configuring each one from scratch. Your IT team must install software, set up security protocols, and restore user environments—all of which take time and technical effort, especially at scale.
- Renting from a provider like Hartford means your devices can arrive fully imaged with your business software, login credentials, and even backup data preloaded. This ensures teams can open the laptop and get to work immediately.
5. Scalability
- Buying ties your hands. If your team size or site count fluctuates during the recovery process, you may find yourself over- or under-provisioned, wasting budget or leaving workers without the tools they need.
- Renting allows you to scale up or down as needed—by the day, week, or month. Whether you need 10 devices or 1,000, Hartford’s flexible rental model ensures you’re only paying for what you use. And with locations across the U.S., scaling quickly is never an issue.
Proactive Preparation Steps
The best time to plan for a disaster is before it happens. A proactive approach ensures your team won’t be scrambling to source technology or define recovery workflows when every minute counts. Below are four key steps your business should take now to ensure you’re ready for any unexpected disruption.
1. Build a Continuity Profile
Start by assessing the core technology needs of your organization during a downtime event. This includes identifying:
- The number of employees who would need temporary equipment
- Which software and systems are mission-critical
- Your data backup and recovery protocols
- Remote vs. on-site workforce capabilities
This continuity profile serves as the foundation for your recovery plan and informs every decision that follows.
2. Pre-Define a Rental Loadout
Rather than deciding what to rent in the heat of the moment, work with a rental provider like Hartford Technology Rentals to map out exactly what your organization would need. Define:
- Specific hardware models (e.g., business-class laptops, networking gear, tablets)
- Quantities by department or team size
- Software imaging or pre-configuration requirements
Having this “loadout” defined in advance ensures faster fulfillment and avoids guesswork when response time is critical.
3. Create a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Establish a formal agreement with your rental provider that outlines:
- Pre-negotiated pricing for various equipment types
- Inventory reserves or guaranteed access in a crisis
- Delivery timelines, setup support, and service-level agreements (SLAs)
This step removes uncertainty and accelerates deployment when a disaster strikes, giving your team a head start.
4. Run Annual Simulations
Don’t let your continuity plan gather dust. Schedule an annual drill to test your tech recovery process, just like a fire drill. Simulate:
- Hardware outages or cyberattacks
- Switching to rental systems temporarily
- Remote access configurations and user logins
These simulations validate your plan, reveal gaps, and help employees get comfortable with emergency protocols—so when it’s real, they’re ready.
Why Choose Hartford Technology Rentals
- Nationwide footprint & 24/7/365 support
- Same-day / next-day deployment of preconfigured equipment
- Technical setup & teardown included
- Flexible rental durations
- Proven track record with time-sensitive events
Conclusion
A detailed business continuity tech checklist—combined with the agility and cost-efficiency of rental equipment—can make or break your ability to keep operations running during a crisis. Partnering with Hartford Technology Rentals means you get fast delivery, expert support, and a plan you can rely on.
Schedule a consultation today to build your emergency-ready tech loadout—before the next emergency hits.