Plan B
A plan for disaster recovery, as part of a business continuity plan, can proof your business from tragedy

As seen in: bizAZ Technology Resource Guide - Jul/Aug 2005

By Gene Holmquist

Business continuity is not just an IT thing. It’s a company-wide concern. Unplanned outages of any type: power outage, electrical malfunction, human error, or a communications outage—can have disastrous consequences for your business and your customers.

At Ensynch, we’ve recognized that many of the solutions designed for disaster recovery and remote-data protection are geared toward larger companies with big budgets. But for growing and midsize companies, which often rely on broadband Internet service and have razor-thin budgets, these solutions are out of reach.

A great many factors are driving the demand for disaster recovery planning. You have events like Sept. 11, 2001, making many an IT manager recognize the need for planning for the unimaginable. And, since then, compliance mandates like Sarbanes-Oxley have forced companies to put a variety of new business processes in place.

Some questions to consider when thinking about business continuity: What processes enable the activities your business and customers rely upon? What are you doing to ensure the function of those processes? What threats are you facing, and where are you most vulnerable? Make sure your answers are detailed and specific. Don’t be afraid to seek out the inefficiencies and vulnerabilities in your organization, because an unplanned outage will.

Disaster recovery planning is an undertaking that encompasses not only the technology companies rely on but also the people, processes, and facilities that enable business operations.

Buy-in from the top—from the CEO to other senior officers—and across every discipline is essential, so that there is a shared sense of the business and revenue impact unplanned outages can have.  This will help provide an understanding of financial consequences and demonstrate the ROI required to make the investment in business continuity.

Paul Kirvan, a disaster recovery expert and editor-in-chief of Contingency Planning Magazine, cites a rule of thumb: 3-5% of your IT budget should be for allocated to a formal disaster recovery plan.

Savvy business and IT managers are extending disaster recovery and business continuity services to provide storage consolidation, simplified management and optimized resource utilization.

Another thing to think about: Do you ask organizations you do business with whether they have business continuity plans? More specifically, a disaster recovery plan? Once you see the value of technology as not only a tool for making your business operationally efficient, but as a means for gaining competitive advantage in your industry, then you will begin realizing the technology ROI that you hope to achieve.

Gene Holmquist (gholmquist@ensynch.com) is President of Ensynch, Inc., an Arizona-based IT infrastructure services firm that brings prolific IT operational efficiency knowledge and experience to emerging growth and mid-market businesses through its consulting, staffing and datacenter services.

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