Business Continuity ??

What's Your Business Worth To You ??

Did you know . . . . . . . ?

Only 8% of companies which have no maintained business continuity plans will survive after suffering an incident which destroys their critical computer systems and/or records (usually within three years)

  • 43% of companies affected by the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing went out of business
  • The most common cause of IT disasters is human error
  • The most common failures are hardware-related
  • 50% of back-ups never work when recovery is attempted
  • One out of every five organisations will suffer a major disaster every five years

    (Source : Infosecurity 1997)

Ask yourself the following questions . . . . .

  • Could your management team cope with the aftermath of an incident which severely disrupts your business operations ?
  • What would constitute a "severe disruption" to your business ?
  • Have you evaluated what potential exposures may exist to your business ?
  • Have you a legal, corporate or other obligation to maintain a business continuity / disaster recovery plan ?
  • Incidents which may have catastrophic impacts are not always in the "Big Bang" category, like fire or explosion, although these risks are often real enough. Have you considered, for example, what the impact may be from "simply" being denied access to your facilities? e.g. the next building may have been damaged, and emergency services bar access to all buildings in the vicinity. It's not your direct problem, but you are suffering !

In order to continue operating, you, and your key staff, must be aware of what needs to be considered, and which actions need to be taken, relevant to the incident and its likely impact upon your business priorities at the time it occurs.

It's impossible to guarantee that people will consider all the right issues and items at the time. There has to be some forward thinking. Just as you take out insurance to cover the (hopefully) unlikely event of an accident, so you should develop and maintain a program to ensure continuity of critical business functions and services.

?? What's Your Business Worth To You ??

If you have any doubts about your organisation's ability to cope with severe disruption, from whatever cause, there is support available.