Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Planning

Developing business continuity and disaster recovery plans require a lot of time and effort to develop and test so they can be implemented immediately when needed. The goal, of course, is to prevent as many disruptions as possible and to be able to get up and running quickly if a disaster does occur. How well can your BC and DR plans meet these goals? Check out this week's articles for information that can help you improve and update your current plans.

These business issues are likely to have impacted (or will impact) business continuity planning. (Item #1)   The legal issues involved in corporate contingency planning are some of the most misunderstood and confusing aspects of the entire process of creating a disaster recovery plan. (Item #2)   Your ability to ensure the continuity of your company also depends on your willingness and ability to communicate your continuity wishes to those who will be affected. (Item #3)  

Four reasons IT executives charged with business continuity planning, risk management and disaster recovery must consider their employees and operations heavily in their plans. (Item #4)   A remote access solution must be intuitive and must take into account the increased need for security under business continuity conditions. (Item #5)   Disaster recovery planning is affected by social, mobile, virtualization and cloud services. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Top 10 business continuity issues for 2012

On 12 December 2012, the current cycle will come to an end-according to the Mayan long count way of reckoning time, that is. Opinion is divided on what this will portend. Spiritual enlightenment ? Or apocalypse? Doomsday scenarios aside, just what are the risks that companies and their boards should be factoring into their planning for 2012 - many of these will still be with us in 2013. See if your plan was on track; if not, better get updating!
http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2012/01/top-10-business-continuity-issues-for-2012/

2. The Legal Issues of Business Continuity Planning

Despite the widespread reporting of disasters and their effects, many companies, corporate directors, and officers remain apathetic toward implementing a business continuity/disaster recovery plan. Many companies are generally unwilling to commit the finances and resources to implement a plan unless forced to do so. However, implementing a business continuity/disaster recovery plan is a strategic, moral, and legal obligation to one's company.
http://www.rsi-llc.com/leadership/documents/THELEGALISSUESOFBUSINESSCONTINUITYPLANNING.pdf

3. Continuity of Ownership - The First of an Owner's Business Continuity Concerns

Most, if not all, business owners have been approached by at least one of their advisors with the ever-popular question, "What would happen to your business if you died or became disabled?" Few business owners fail to recognize this question for the thinly-veiled pitch to buy insurance that it is. Insurance alone, however, cannot resolve all of the three primary issues that face every business when owners go AWOL. Let's identify the three primary continuity issues and examine possible solutions.
http://cedarrapids.sunbeltnetwork.com/continuity-ownership-first-owner%E2%80%99s-business-continuity-concerns

4. The Employee Factor of Continuity Planning: Four Reasons It Matters to IT Executives

Business continuity planning, risk management, disaster recovery -- whatever you call it, it's falling into the laps of the IT executive more often than ever before. If -- or when -- you find yourself called upon to extend your role and take responsibility for programs beyond data-centric implementations, you'll find that there are more considerations than you'd ever dreamed, not the least of which is employee preparedness.
http://esj.com/articles/2010/02/23/employee-continuity-planning.aspx

5. Four Secure Remote Access Tips for Business Continuity Planning

Addressing the business continuity needs of office workers, the most common type of employee in many organizations, is important. These employees typically work at their desks, and when they work outside of the office they are most often without remote access to corporate resources. Appliance-based remote desktop solutions enable workers to immediately, securely, and cost-effectively access their unique applications and files, allowing them to conduct business as usual, even when they can't make it into the office.
http://www.drj.com/articles/online-exclusive/four-secure-remote-access-tips-for-business-continuity-planning.html

6. Four tech trends in IT disaster recovery

As we've seen in recent years, natural disasters can lead to long-term downtime for organizations. Because earthquakes, hurricanes, snow storms or other events can put data centers and other corporate facilities out of commission for a while, it's vital that companies have in place a comprehensive disaster recovery plan.
http://www.csoonline.com/article/711499/4-tech-trends-in-it-disaster-recovery