Disaster Recovery Journal

Do you believe in Father Christmas?

For some, perhaps the more innocent or naïve amongst us, he’s real. For others, perhaps those of us who are a little more worldly-wise, he’s completely fictional; a myth; a charming fairy story. Many of us get to a certain age and start to question our previously perceived reality; maybe start to look for proof. For some of us, the realisation that things weren’t as we thought they were can be a painful experience.

The 1942 Pearl Harbor Congressional Report lists 25 deficiencies, many of which have value equally to business continuity and emergency management practitioners.

Perhaps you'll find something here you can use in your role preparing Americans for the worst.

Below are those 25 deficiencies - how far have we come?

Continues at http://johnglennmbci.blogspot.com/2011/12/erm-bc-coop-lessons-from-1942-for-erm.html

By: Sameer Sule

Does 45 CFR § 164.308(a)(7)(ii)(A) apply to you? It certainly does if you are a “Covered Entity”(CE) or a “Business Associate”(BA) under HIPAA.  HIPAA audits began in November 2011, and failure to be in compliance with the HIPAA security rule will result in substantial fines to your business. HIPAA defines an organization as a CE and/or BA as follows:

Each year as winter gets closer our customers start to think about winter weather and how it will impact their business (if you are one of the lucky ones in the south, pray for a warm winter and no snow!).  We are asked the same thing every year “How can we protect our business better?”.  While this is a valid question, there are lots of other factors to take into account.  First and foremost what is a disaster?  Second, How does it differ from a disruption?

By: Sameer Sule

During my seminars on Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, I often ask the audience the following question:

When every business ranging from small to large organization runs on mission critical IT services, the data center services providers do their best to prevent, alleviate, respond and recover technology infrastructure from human induced and natural disasters. A subset and an integral part of business continuity, disaster recovery aims to create resilient business in the process.

A data center has to face challenges like power shortages, floods and sudden shut offs, pilferage, cooling etc. Data centers need to prepare beforehand to encompass the areas of emergency and plan the response and recovery accordingly. A disaster recovery plan can never be accurately prepared or predicted to bounce back from a disaster 100 percent fool- proof. So, a recovery plan should be flexible enough to cope up with the predicament of a disaster to minimize the losses.

A Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan should address four key components of any business:

1) People
2) Process
3) Resources
4) Technology

In a Wall Street Journal copyrighted article at http://tinyurl.com/88h2q2h, organizations learn that under certain circumstances angry employees can say almost anything they wish against their past or current employer with impunity.

If the employer acts against the employee, the organization may face charges from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Continues at http://johnglennmbci.blogspot.com/2011/12/erm-bc-coop-unsocial-media.html 

Don't know if you've noticed but it is December 1... Kind of amazing how quickly the fall months have passed and now a lot of us are looking ahead to the winter months. Depending on where you live, you may or may not feel the full-on cold, snow, sleet, ice, and overall frosty conditions - but regardless of your location, you will feel the impacts of winter. 

We are all connected and this means that even if you live for example in Texas, your business can and will be impacted by a snow storm in New England. What this means is that all of us need to be prepared and ready for the next few months of uncertain weather conditions. 

It's not the first time I have suggested that government - at all levels - should be considered a risk to the organization.

Usually we think of government making a rule that restricts the organization's business or adds additional regulations . . . and costs.