Filed under: KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Knowledge | Tags: business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, Continuity of Operations, COOP, disaster preparation, disaster recovery, disaster recovery software, iPad, iPhone Application, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, mobile browser, Phoenix Mobile iPhone App
With the recent explosion of mobile devices and their increased power, we are being asked about “accessing our BC/DR plan from a mobile device”. As more and more companies are taking their plans online/cloud based and their workforce is increasingly more mobile, having access to their plan on their device is becoming a reality. Where does this leave all these apps that we see everyday? Let’s take a look…
Jim Balsillie (co-CEO of BlackBerry) told a conference in November 2010 (only seven months ago) that “We believe that you can bring the mobile to the Web but you don’t need to go through some kind of control point of an SDK, and that’s the core part of our message.”. While that might work in concept, BlackBerry is being crushed under the Android and Apple onslaught of Apps. It really is simple, users don’t want to access information that is designed for a larger screen, crunched into a little 4 in screen. Alternatively, they don’t want a stripped down edition where they are shown limited information decided upon by the developer of the website. With more than 300,000 apps available for iPhones alone, I think the market has spoken.
What do you get with an App that accesses your plan instead of “just a browser”?
As there aren’t many Apps on the market for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, the options are limited. However, of those that are available they offer a completely different experience than viewing a website. They actually allow you to interact with your complete recovery plan. You have a single location to:
- send a notification
- acknowledge a notification
- send your location to your team members
- find directions to your hotsite
- read your plan without having to scroll through the entire plan.
Each of these tasks (or actions) are built to look and function perfectly for your device (iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry or Android). It becomes an extension of your plan instead of fighting with your plan. As you have probably already found out, if you make the process difficult, the users simply won’t use it!
To recap, what we have learned… Regardless of whatever anyone tells you, reading your plan on a mobile device through a browser is not “Mobile Enabled”. To truly be able to access your plan, you need to have an extension of your plan in your hand 24/7/365. If you don’t believe ask anyone to access Facebook through their mobile browser and not the App that has been built to make the process easier, faster and better. If your social life deserves an app… Shouldn’t your business?
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with an office in Ottawa, Canada. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Knowledge | Tags: business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, business impact analysis, Continuity of Operations, COOP, disaster preparation, disaster recovery, disaster recovery software, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Phoenix software, threat risk analysis
Oh no… There is a storm coming!
Oh no… There is a labor strike coming!
Oh no… There is X coming!
Regardless of whatever that “X” is, as a recovery planner we teach our clients and students that you are building a solution that allows you business to recover after the event. Let’s switch that up a bit…
What if you capitalized on the media that precedes event “X”?
Not sure what I mean…? Let’s use a scenario.
Winter 2011 had some terrible weather across the world. In each of these weather related events, there was (for the most part) significant warning. So much so, that twitter, news outlets and RSS/email feeds were going crazy with the impending doom of whatever the weather was… Let’s say you are a retailer who does a lot of online sales, or a car dealership with lots of cars in stock or a software company that has to hit quarterly sales targets and there is a big weather system coming through your region in the next 24 hours.
Do you;
A) Send all your employees home early to avoid the weather?
B) Keep everyone to their regular schedule and brave the weather? Or
C) Do a huge weather blowout sale with pizza and movies to keep morale high?
By the “strict” rules of recovery planning, you would choose option “A” and put a message on your voicemail saying the weather has closed the company. Maybe have people login from home (if your business supports that) and wait until the weather passes.
What actually happens? Usually closer to “B”, depending on your business using the thought process “If I can make it to work, so can you!”, unfortunately “they” don’t own the business and will likely not make it to work for various reasons.
What you should do is “C”, again depending on your business and if it is possible. If you are an online retailer; have a huge winter weather sale, promise discounted shipping due to the delay, or sell off most (if not all) of your winter gear to increase your bottom line. If you are a car dealer; you don’t want to brush off all the cars after the storm (or repair them if that occurs), so throw in a snow brush, buy a bunch of snow shovels or have a local plowing company plow out your new customers driveway. For the software company; have a winter promotion to save before the big storm, depending what you sell think outside the box to make it fun.
If you choose the “C” option, there are a couple things to remember, keep it fun, keep it light and if your staff want to go home for various reasons make sure you accommodate them.
In recovery planning cash flow is critical (you’ll hear that a lot), so option “C” will likely increase your cash flow, allow you to achieve sales goals and ensure your company is around for the next storm!
PS – With so much social media right now, email feeds and 24-hour news stations starving for news make sure you get your message out to the public. It shouldn’t cost a lot and if your customers are spread across the county or country, make sure they all have the same chance to buy at a discounted rate!
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Knowledge | Tags: bit.ly, business, business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, business impact analysis, Continuity of Operations, COOP, disaster preparation, disaster recovery software, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Phoenix software
As an addendum to our most recent post on how the events in Libya could affect your business, there is also the problem with using the bit.ly service for shortening URLs. The article at http://is.gd/YPbBL8 explains why your links may be cut off.
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: Knowledge, Software | Tags: business, business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, business impact analysis, Continuity of Operations, COOP, disaster recovery, disaster recovery software, gmail, gmail failure, google failure, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Phoenix software
As an addendum to today’s post about losing gmail contacts and correspondence, Wired magazine has a tutorial article on how to back up your gmail locally to your own computer. Here’s the link to that article:
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Make_a_Local_Backup_Of_Your_Gmail_Account
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: Knowledge, Software | Tags: business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, business impact analysis, Continuity of Operations, COOP, disaster preparation, disaster recovery, disaster recovery software, gmail, gmail failure, google failure, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Phoenix software
So we saw this week that even Google can have a few things go wrong. In their case, there was a glitch in the gmail service on Sunday night and, as many as 150,000 users (or as few as 40,000) lost some or all of their email history, including contacts and correspondence. There are more than 200 million users of gmail throughout the world, so the affected percentage isn’t great. The service is free and usually very good. This tends to lull users into an expected sense of security (and invincibility). The problem was caused by an error in a software update. And, if it can happen to Google, it could happen to you.
What readers should learn from this is to have a plan in place to back up their email. Email is a critical aspect of most businesses in today’s business environment. Can you imagine losing the history of all of your customer and supplier dealings for the past several years ? That would hurt.
It has been our experience that your email is a critical aspect of your recovery and continuity plans. Be sure that you know how to back up and recover and that you (and your staff) do it.
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: Knowledge, Software | Tags: business, business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, business impact analysis, Continuity of Operations, COOP, disaster preparation, disaster recovery, disaster recovery software, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Phoenix software
KingsBridge is happy to announce a new series of Blogs focused on Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR). These blogs will be written by Dr. Jeffrey Williams, with experience in the BC/DR field since 1983, Dr. Williams has definitely been there, done that when it comes to Recovery Planning!
So this is the inaugural KingsBridge Thursday Morning Blog (KTMB) that will explore all facets of Recovery Planning from set topics to the latest in the news.
While Dr. Williams’ focus has shifted slightly to the security aspect of Recovery Planning and what businesses should be doing to ensure their information remains secure during an incident, his wealth of knowledge is only increasing as he explores new aspects of planning.
Watch for regular contribution from Dr. Williams each Thurdsay morning as he adds his BC/DR/COOP perspective on the latest news and select topics.
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: Knowledge, Software | Tags: business continuity, business continuity software, Continuity of Operations, disaster recovery software, DRJ Spring World, Florida, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Learning Tree International, Orlando, Phoenix software
You’ve got through the first month of 2011… Honestly, how did you do with your New Year’s Resolutions? Chances are, like the rest of us, these resolutions fell by the wayside and you quickly returned to your regular routine. Well, now is the time to use February as your second chance.
Take a look back at that list of New Year’s Resolutions. I’m guessing that there were items on your “professional” resolution list such as: more productivity, employee retention, hit all sales numbers, engage current clients, follow-up with all company/product requests, build brand awareness, etc. These are all excellent resolutions for each and every business – regardless of your vertical. The interesting aspect to these resolutions is the hidden common thread: business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
Without an effective business continuity and disaster recovery plan, it really doesn’t matter if you achieve all of your resolutions. Why? Well to put it bluntly – your business won’t survive its first interruption in production, communication, or development. For example, an interruption in your Internet access combined with a power outage can result in a drop in productivity, being forced to lay-off employees due to lack of sales, and a loss of customers and current clients because you cannot fulfill orders and respond to Internet-based requests.
Fascinating isn’t it how one seemingly innocent power outage or loss of Internet connectivity can send your company into a tailspin and result in severe ramifications…
It is February 1, 2011. Make this your “New Year”. Sit down and write down your real professional resolutions. Analyze this list and set priorities. Make sure for your sake and those of your employees and current clients that something like: update disaster recovery plan, introduce disaster recovery and business continuity planning to our infrastructure, and learn about effective disaster recovery planning.
Alright, I have to go. We’ve got our own list of resolutions here at KingsBridge. No time like the present to get busy and help companies like yourself learn how we can help you meet your resolutions….
(Want to learn about disaster recovery planning? Feel like going to Florida in March? How does Disney World sound? Our thoughts exactly… Check out our 1.5 day course at the Disaster Recovery Journal Spring World show: Disaster Recovery Planning: Ensuring Business Continuity.)
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: Knowledge, Software | Tags: British Colombia, business continuity software, business disaster, business impact analysis, disaster, disaster preparation, disaster recovery software, DRJ Sprin World, earthquakes, Florida, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Learning Tree International, natural disasters, Orlando
On Wednesday, the province of British Colombia lead by example. Over 420,000 people participated in a province-wide earthquake drill.
At 10 a.m., radio stations through-out the province sounded an alarm and students, office workers, clergy, and church-goers, dove under desks, tables and other stable and sturdy pieces of furniture and hung on for a minute to simulate what to do when the expected big earthquake hits British Colombia.
The purpose of this province-wide drill was to create awareness amongst citizens of what to do when an earthquake hits. The main goal being to emphasize that leaving a shaking building is the worst thing to do. Called “The Great British Colombia Shakeout”, this drill on Wednesday highlights how important it is to be prepared and aware of what to do when disaster strikes.
In addition to this drill, the province has also ensured that public buildings are safer and better designed to withstand the effects of an earthquake. British Colombia is located in a geographical zone that is prone to earthquakes.
So, what can we learn from British Colombia? Essentially, there is no time like the present to identify the threats to your home, business, schools and community as a whole and then the next step is to determine how to prepare yourself to respond to these threats. Imagine if all provinces in Canada followed British Colombia’s lead – Alberta could prepare for the inevitable winter cold snap, Saskatchewan could determine how best to respond to a drought, Manitoba could be ready for the flooding of the Red River, Ontario could be ready for the next ice storm, Quebec could prepare for the springtime floods, New Brunswick could be ready for the early winter storms, Nova Scotia could respond to the high winds, Newfoundland could be ready to face the winter storms, Prince Edward Island could face the high winds and flooding, and Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut could be ready to face the severe cold of the winter.
Sometime to think about it isn’t. Every year we are impacted by the effects of natural disasters – make 2011 the year that you’re ready to respond.
(To read more about the initiatives in British Colombia, follow these links: CBC News, earthquake drills, and earthquake facts.)
P.S. This the perfect reason to register for our 1.5 day course at the DRJ Spring World show in Orlando, Florida. Learn the essentials of disaster recovery planning from us – leading experts with more than 25 years of hands-on experience.
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
Filed under: Knowledge, Software | Tags: business continuity, business disaster, disaster recovery, disaster recovery course, disaster recovery software, DRJ SpringWorld, education, Florida, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Learning Tree International, Orlando
Ouch, have you looked at the thermometer lately? With temperatures in the minus 25 to 30 range, parts of Canada and the United States are in a deep freeze. Some people will shrug off this cold and simply say “it is part of life in Canada and the United States. Not a big deal really,” but luckily, you know better. Right?
This cold weather can and is impacting your business. Everything seems to slow down with the cold. Employees are getting into the office a bit later – their cars won’t start, the public transit system is delayed, they really just didn’t feel like leaving the house, their kid’s school bus was canceled. Some employees won’t even making it in for those same reasons – no alternative means of transportation, kid’s school is closed, public transit is too slow in this weather. And then there are the burst water pipes, the frozen sidewalks and driveways, and the general feeling of malaise that seems to come on with the cold.
So if this is how your employees are being impacted by the cold, think of the trickle-down effect in your business. Late employees or missing employees results in less productivity – impacting your bottom-line. Now look at your suppliers – same problem – their employees are coming in late or not at all – now your supplier is behind schedule – how will this impact your ability to get your product or service out the door to your customers?
Something to think about while trying to stay warm with a steaming mug of hot chocolate… Is this cold snap a disaster or threat? Not really – but it does have an impact on your business. Bottom line is you need to be running at top efficiency and productivity at all times. With this cold weather, you simply can’t be. So what to do?
Now is the perfect time to look at your disaster recovery and business continuity plan. Do you have home phone numbers for all your key employees? Are these employees equipped to work from home if they can’t get into the office? What about child care arrangements at your office? What is your back-up plan with your suppliers if they can’t deliver their products or services on time? Are you prepared should the pipes burst in your office? Do you have off-site data storage? What about your warehouses – has someone dropped by to make sure the heating is still working properly?
See, while the cold weather might not be a disaster or threat per se, it still does have a big impact on your ability to run your business. Our recommendation for surviving this cold snap, sit down and look at your plan – make sure all of the above are covered.
Soon enough the sun will be shining and we’ll all be complaining about the summer heat, but until then, make sure your business is ready and able to survive this cold snap.
(P.S. speaking of heat – did you know we’re holding a 1.5 day course at the Disaster Recovery Journal Spring World show in Orlando, Florida in March? Escape the cold and take our course and learn the essentials of disaster recovery and business continuity planning.)
Filed under: Knowledge, Software | Tags: business continuity, business continuity software, disaster recovery, Disaster Recovery Journal, DRJ SpringWorld, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Learning Tree International, SpringWorld
This year at the Disaster Recovery Journal SpringWorld show, we’ll be offering a 1.5 day course on the essentials of disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
In association with Learning Tree International, we’ll teach you how to:
- Create, document and test continuity arrangements for your organization
- Perform a risk assessment and Business Impact Assessment (BIA) to identify vulnerabilities
- Select and deploy an alternate site for continuity of mission-critical activities
- Identify appropriate strategies to recover the infrastructure and processes
- Test and maintain an effective recovery plan in a rapidly changing technology environment
The course is offered as a 1.5 day workshop course at the Disaster Recovery Journal’s Spring World 2011 Conference on Saturday March 26th and Sunday March 27th, 2011. KingsBridge has partnered with Learning Tree, a world leader in hands-on IT training since 1974, to deliver this training at the DRJ Conference. Please check with www.drj.com for applicable fees and availability.
For complete details on this course and what you’ll learn, see our website.
About KingsBridge
KingsBridge offers private businesses and government organizations a unique combination of industry knowledge and cost-effective disaster recovery / business continuity solutions. KingsBridge products and seminars provide the tools to assess possible threats and create tailored plans which mitigate risks and minimize losses in the event of a disruption to business. Kingsbridge is headquartered in Ogdensburg, New York, with offices in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Vermont. For more information visit us at www.DisasterRecovery.com.
