Agency Technology: When disaster strikes part 1: Understanding the risk

When we think of “technology,” it’s easy to think about computers, phones and other hardware/software solutions in our 21st century agencies. But an easily overlooked IT responsibility is disaster preparedness and business continuity. Disaster preparedness is the state in which an agency has prepared its assets, technologies, staff and data for disaster. It involves a plan for avoiding and recovering from a disaster. Business continuity is a progression of disaster recovery, aimed at allowing an organization to continue functioning after–and ideally, during–a disaster to ensure that critical business functions will be available to customers, carriers and other business partners. Over the next three months, I’ll be looking at specific ways to create and implement a simple yet effective plan for surviving disasters. This month, however, let’s first clearly understand the need, scope and importance of disaster preparedness and business continuity. Statistics How you prepare for a disaster can make the difference between your agency surviving and going out of business. When a major disaster strikes a community, it often changes the community and the agency forever. The U.S. Dept. of Labor estimates more than 40 percent of businesses never reopen following a disaster. Of the remaining companies, at least 25 percent will close within 2 years. More than 60 percent of businesses confronted by a major disaster close by 2 years, according to the Assn. of Records Managers and Administrators. The Gartner Group provides fact-based consulting services that help our clients use and manage IT to enable business performance. A study found that 60 percent of businesses that experienced a data disaster ceased operations within two years. “What if?” Disaster is no game. It is a real-life exercise in survivability. But to make the point, let’s consider some “what if?” questions. Question 1: What if … a tornado hit your agency? If you are relying on paper, do you know it is impossible to back up paper? And do you realize that not securing the protection of customer information in paper form can actually place an agency in violation of federal privacy laws?