I remember that saying from my childhood. At that time, I always related it to keeping myself healthy. But since entering the contingency planning field over 15 years ago, I’ve realized how important prevention is for keeping a business healthy.

Knowing how to recover your business after a disaster strikes is extremely important, but it’s advanced preparation that makes a fast and efficient recovery possible. As publisher and editor-in-chief of this magazine, I’ve always stressed that we cover both recovery and preparedness; hopefully you will never need the recovery techniques.

A good place to start is by examining your own business and its surroundings and find out what vulnerabilities you have. Then research how to prevent or prepare for those possible disasters or business interruptions.

I know a lot of you have already done this as part of your business impact analysis. But you should keep these assessments up to date. The threats to businesses are constantly changing and growing. A few years ago, the Internet was something used by very few of us and wasn’t a widespread tool for business. Today it’s vital. And with that importance comes a growing number of new threats. The only way to prevent problems such as viruses and hackers is to know of them in advance and take steps to prevent them.

Also, this year, we’re definitely facing a new threat that hasn’t come about before - the Year 2000 Millennium Bug problem. That alone illustrates how important preparedness is. I feel those of us who plan in advance for this dilemma will come through just fine. Any problems that do appear will be fixed within the first two weeks of January 2000. Those who ignore the problem will have difficulties— at least a month or two of downtime, which would put most business out-of-business. We’ve included several articles in this issue that discuss Y2K readiness. Check them out to be sure you’re prepared.

Another threat to prepare for is the upcoming severe weather season. Tornadoes are most common in the United States during the spring months, with April being the deadliest month for these disasters. Check in your area to see how common these storms are, and be sure to prepare properly. You never know when one will strike. For information on how tornadoes affected one company in Missouri, see the article, "Tic Tac Tornado" on page 94 of this issue.

DRJ has several resources, in addition to this magazine, in which information for preparedness can be found. One is our website. www.drj.com. Some helpful items you’ll find there include past issues of our magazine and a sample recovery plan.

Also on the website you’ll find information on DRJ’s conferences. Our most recent event was held in San Diego, California on March 21-24. We had some 1,350 continuity business professionals at this show - an incredible turnout! Those who attended had a chance to learn new techniques, methods and technology for the contingency planning field. I want to thank all the participants for making our 20th conference a success and for keeping the Journal a strong voice in the industry. Because of the large number of participants our conference and advertising rates remain at an unprecedented price. Finally, I cannot forget to thank the authors who make each issue of the DRJ intense and factual for the 56,000+ readers. For more information on this past conference, see the article and accompanying photos on page 28 of this issue.

Information on DRJ’s next conference, The 11th International Disaster Recovery Symposium and Exhibition, can be found on the website and in this issue. An eight page brochure describing the conference begins on page 81. Our conferences are a great place to learn new information on contingency planning and network with others in the field. Do not forget to register with the hotel early to ensure you have a room. The hotel rates are only $109.00 a night for a single room. Make plans to attend this affordable and informative event!

As you can see there are many resources available to help you with your contingency planning preparedness. If there is any additional information you’d like to see covered in our magazine or one of our products, please let us know. We love hearing from you!