U.K. floods updateFloods show gap between those who plan for disaster and those who do not

The floods which hit the United Kingdom this summer have highlighted the benefits of business continuity and disaster recovery planning over ad hoc responses. Thousands of companies were forced to suspend business or operate with skeleton staff after three times the usual rainfall fell in counties including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire in mid-July. Other companies, however, were able to rely on disaster recovery plans to minimize the disruption to their businesses. ComputerWeekly’s Warwick Ashford writes that dsaster recovery companies reported a high number of business continuity plan invocations and standby calls from customers in cntral and wstern England. Most said they had not received as many calls for a single incident since the Buncefield fire in 2006, or the London bombings on 7 July 2005. “Business continuity needs to be done in advance for the longer term to enable proper planning, implementation and testing of systems,” said Keith Tilley, managing director at disaster recovery firm Sungard Availability Services. Disaster recovery companies said that unlike fires or explosions, flooding affected many more companies over a much wider area at the same time, with firms that were not underwater affected by related power and water cuts. The effects of flooding can also last longer. It was feared it could be months before some businesses are up and running again.

Analysts note that companies with business continuity plans fared better. These plans varied: Some of these copmpanies were provided with generators under contracts with business continuity suppliers. Those unable to access their premises were relocated to specialist business continuity centers (for example: Fortis Insurance in Gloucester was affected by power cuts. The company invoked its business continuity contract with SunGard to take 250 positions for its staff at SunGard’s Bristol Workplace Recovery Center).