It is hard to believe it is already the last quarter for Disaster Recovery Journal. Our fall edition is always a time of reflection. This has been a very busy year at DRJ and in business continuity companies in general.
The economy is rebounding and budgets are loosening, but we still have a long way to go to continue the tremendous growth that occurred in earlier decades. I had many conversations with experienced business continuity planners at our recent DRJ show, Fall World 2012. All echoed the same sentiments, and were prepared to fight for budgets and increased training in their organizations. I hope we can all join in the fight. Training and awareness are vital.
Looking back over the year, I see lots of disasters that have threatened businesses and held high risks for communities.
Hurricane Isaac roared through the Gulf Coast in August, soaking the southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. High winds and flooding caused extensive damage to residences and businesses.
During the hot, dry summer months, wildfires raged out of control in numerous states, including Colorado, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas and Vermont. Severe storms also caused disasters in Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey. In fact, Queens, NY was hit by a tornado on Sept. 8. Examples like this are why we need to be prepared for anything at any time.
Handling events like these require cooperation between public and private sectors, and extensive training on the variety of necessary skills. There are so many sectors involved in widespread disasters: crisis communications, emergency notification, emergency response, recovery strategies, incident team management, business resiliency and many others.
In addition to managing disasters, there are many other areas of business continuity that require constant attention and awareness. Compliance has become a big issue in the past few years.
This year ISO 22301 gained lots of attention. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 164 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO has produced more than 19,000 standards. The ISO 22301 specifies requirements for setting up and managing an effective business continuity management system.
DRJ focused on the ISO standard in our Summer 2012 edition. You can find a copy of the article online at www.drj.com.
As you can see, it has been a very busy year and there is always something to be aware of or learn about in the business continuity/disaster recovery industries. This is why I urge all of you to continue pushing budgets for training and awareness. It is so beneficial to our industry.
You can find a recap of our recent Fall World 2012 conference in an article in this magazine. Check page 50 for all the details.
The agenda for Spring World 2013 is going to be released very soon. We promise to bring only the best presenters and the most vital information to our sessions. We want to help you to manage disasters, keep up with industry standards, or explore numerous other industry issues. You can rely on our expertise to bring you the most current information in the most informative format.
I hope you join us onsite at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, March 17-20, 2013, for this outstanding conference. If you need help gaining the funds to attend, check out our exclusive justification kit. This is loaded with information on how to approach management and justify the expenses of attending. And, by the way, be sure to mention that DRJ has the lowest conference fees in the industry!
I look forward to seeing you at Spring World 2013!
