Filed under: KingsBridge Disaster Recovery | Tags: business continuity, Continuity of Operations, COOP, disaster, disaster preparation, disaster recovery, disaster recovery software, disruption, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Phoenix software
Each year as winter gets closer our customers start to think about winter weather and how it will impact their business (if you are one of the lucky ones in the south, pray for a warm winter and no snow!). We are asked the same thing every year “How can we protect our business better?”. While this is a valid question, there are lots of other factors to take into account. First and foremost what is a disaster? Second, How does it differ from a disruption?
Every self respecting Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning website shows varying levels of Armageddon with large-scale fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and the like. While those threats are all reasonable ones to plan for, don’t get hung up on trying to plan for something that isn’t “likely” to impact your business. A 2010 Gartner/Disaster Recovery Journal survey shows that 7 other threats are more likely (Power Failure, IT Hardware Failure, Network Failure, Winter Storm, Human Error, Flood, IT Software Failure) to impact your business. Notice anything about most of these? None of them start as disasters, they start as disruptions!
So when you are doing your planning, why are you planning for something that has a 6% likelihood (Fire in the same survey), when you should be planning for something with a 44% likelihood (Power Failure)? It would seem that we are blinded by “the big one” and don’t notice the real threats to our business.
What the big deal with disruptions turning into disasters? Each disruption could have been stopped at that point with a proper Recovery Plan, unfortunately they weren’t prepared and the disruption ruined your business. Don’t let a coffee being spilt into your exchange server ruin your business, have a plan that stops your disruption at a disruption before it turns into a disaster!
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.
