Business continuity is also about preparation for everyday, small disasters

Natural disasters, terrorist activities, and rapidly spreading illnesses like influenza have pushed disaster recovery to the forefront for most organizations. Jeff Pyden of Alpharetta, Georgia-based OmniVue Business Solutions writes that disaster recovery does not limit itself to catastrophic events. “Businesses should prepare for the more common, everyday ‘disasters’ like a broken water pipe that floods the building, an ice storm that keeps employees from traveling to the office, or loss of power caused by a nearby construction project.” As organizations become more and more dependent on technology to deliver the critical data powering their businesses, there is an increasing awareness that if these systems go down, business can grind to a halt. Furthermore, missed opportunities, lost revenue, and increasingly strict regulations mandating the protection and long-term retention of data adds to the critical need for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plans, he writes. “The goal in disaster recovery is business continuity. You want to keep core business functions operating smoothly under all circumstances. This requires that you and your employees have uninterrupted access to information, regardless of the situation.”

See his recommendations as hos to achieve this.