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 Avian Flu: Special Report
In this issue, you will find several articles
written by and for planning professionals about the possibility of
an Avian flupandemic. The authors vary on their opinions of the virus
and the threat it poses. But they do agree that planning needs to be
done. In each article, you will find insight into areas that will require
attention in order to fully protect your organization from the impact
of a pandemic.
Preparing for an Influenza Pandemic
An influenza pandemic presents a unique threat to businesses and a
unique challenge for continuity planners. The purpose of this article
will be to discuss approaches to the kinds of challenges presented
by an influenza pandemic and presenting ways to address those challenges.
By HANK KALT
Planning for the Bird Flu
 Current information suggests the Avian flu H5N1 could in all likelihood
mutate into a communicable virus among humans. Rather than the limited
geographical targets of a natural disaster or terrorism, where the
majority of the damage would be to infrastructure and physical equipment,
bird flu would hit the workforce en masse. By MONA BUCK
Business Continuity and the Avian Flu
Consider this scenario. At least one-third of your employees have called
in sick over the past two weeks. Another 15 percent of your employees
cannot return to work due to caring for other sick family members,
closure of schools, or closure of daycare facilities. Outside the
workplace, key vendors, suppliers, shareholders and investors are
feeling the same affect. By JAMES MYERS
Is it Hype or Real?
If you work in business continuity long enough,
you will see new threats appear and become the focus of this year’s
conferences, sales pitches, and marketing. Some of this is justified
and a correct reaction to a new threat. Others are hype and in an industry
led by consultants, a new method to sell an old product is always welcome.
By TIM ARMIT
Planning for Human Continuity
 Perhaps more than any other single event in our history, the 9/11 attacks
have changed the way companies prepare and plan for disasters. In
the days, weeks, and months following the attacks, the limitations
of existing models of business continuity planning and emergency
response became painfully clear to both business leaders and disaster
recovery industry experts. As a result, we have seen American business
take a sharply renewed interest in how to best be prepared for the
worst. By MARK BRAVERMAN, Ph.D.
Small Business Case
Can small businesses recover from significant disasters? The answer
depends on a number of variables such as the size of the business,
its location, its financial strength, and the direct and indirect
effects of the event. By JOHN KAUFFMAN, CSP, CBCP, ARM, ALCM
Say What?
I can’t help but think about why I’m really losing my hair.
I lay awake at night thinking about whether I have modified my plan
following the debrief recommendations from my last exercise. I think, “Have
not only my company spokespersons been briefed on what to say if approached
by the media but all of my employees, if we experience a catastrophe?” And
I think about … well, I think too much. By RON FAUSET, CBCP
Acting Out Your Business Continuity Plan
I’m asking that you step back from your day-to-day, step-by-step “how
to” perception of planning. Having done so, try to think of your
BCP as a fictional drama that hasn’t been played out yet. For,
in essence, a BCP is truly a dramatic and futuristic story of the response,
recovery, and resumption efforts of a business struggling to survive
following a disaster. By NORM KOEHLER, CBCP, CRP
Strategies for Achieving High Availability
Managing the availability of mission critical systems requires an understanding
of the risks and costs of losing access to business critical information
or services balanced against the cost of achieving a certain level
of availability. By RANDY MacCLEARY
Establishing a Corporate Business Continuity Program
 Developing a corporate business continuity program is a function of
wide-ranging and critical operational concerns, including the need
to drive higher revenues and profits, control costs, respond to increasing
regulatory issues, and plan for unpredictable business disruptions
or catastrophic disasters.
By ROBERT E. DUNCAN and BILL DIMARTINI
DR in a Virtual Environment Using Imaging Technologies
 Virtualization technology presents a classic dilemma for IT departments.
On the positive side, virtualization offers clear economic and operational
benefits for consolidating servers, supporting legacy applications,
and managing pre-production test environments. Yet it also presents
a disaster-recovery challenge.
By MAX LYDAVINSKY
Lessons from Katrina
As gulf coast businesses evaluate the effectiveness of their disaster
recovery plans after Hurricane Katrina, a major area of focus will
no doubt be data protection. As most know, a solid and secure data
back-up procedure is a necessary part of any disaster recovery plan,
and Katrina confirmed that you can never be too careful. By JIM REINERT
Four Common Mistakes to Avoid When Moving Servers
Server relocations and data center consolidation
can deliver significant benefits – including enhanced business
continuity, optimized disaster recovery schemes, cost savings, better
service management, and improved regulatory compliance. By AMICHAI
LESSER
To Outsource or Not Outsource
As the menu of options grows for companies pressed to improve business
recoverability, the decision to outsource or to go in-house becomes
less clear. By CHRIS HYRNE
Preventing, Limiting the Impact of Disasters
 Disaster recovery plans are strengthened by a pre-disaster program
of physical security in place prior to the advent of hurricanes,
earthquakes, accidental and intentional explosions and other potentially
life and business threatening events. By MARTY WATTS
Thwarting a Potential Document Disaster
Despite all of these indicators, many companies
just don’t have
a plan for business continuity in the event of a natural disaster.
Especially when it comes to everyday document-driven processes such
as billing and forms processing. By BRENDA G. KAI
2006
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©Copyright
2006 Systems Support Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in part in any form or medium without the express written
permission of System Support Inc. is prohibited.
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