Disaster Recovery Journal

Here it is October and it seems like I just announced that this was our 20th year to publish the DRJ magazine. Now, the year is nearly over. Where did the time go?Many of you in the DR/BC industry can relate. When you first get an assignment or a project, it may feel like you have plenty of time to meet your goals. But, before you know it the deadline is approaching fast.

Changes in the industry have probably not helped with the time crunch. There are so many new risks and regulations you have to think about and conform to. It is much different than when I first began in the industry.

My background is in the IT world. The programmers and other personnel in that department were the backbone of DR in those days. Now, the industry has grown, and IT is just one piece in a big puzzle.

But, it is still the segment that I feel the most comfortable. When I meet other IT people, I feel a kinship with them. Even though the duties I performed 20 years ago and those they are doing now are mostly different, we still share the same goals and ideals. They, like me, are intent on protecting the information and the data of a corporation.

After all, without data where would a company be? You can recover a building or your people, but if you don’t have the data to rebuild the business, you might as well start from scratch.

Many of today’s regulations put the spotlight on the IT department when disruptions occur. The chief information officer (CIO) is often the person management views as responsible for maintaining processing services and operations.

At our recent conference, Fall World 2007, we had Senator Paul Sarbanes as a general session speaker. He gave the attendees insight into the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and how it impacts business continuity planners. At our next conference, Spring World 2008, we will offer you a chance to hear from a CIO on how that regulation and many other challenges are affecting IT and other departments. David Kepler II, VP and CIO of The Dow Chemical Company, will give us insight into today’s corporate challenges with D/R and business continuity.

As a bonus, William F. Worlsey, CBCP an experienced business continuity planner who works for Dow, will hold a separate session to follow-up even further on how planners need to interface with their CIOs. Then he’ll discuss the BC programs at Dow.

This type of coverage of the subject offers attendees a multi-level approach to learning. First, the regulations were presented and explained by a leading expert. Now we are giving you a chance to hear insight on how the CIO plays a part in many of the daily decisions and how you can work with your CIO to provide better resilience at your organization.

We will also feature many other sessions and speakers at our next conference to provide key information and details on other areas of the business continuity world. You will find topics of emergency management, risk analysis, communications, insurance, legalities, regulations, testing, data duplication, restoration, human resources and so much more.

We try to provide a good balance of information, so everyone can find solutions, tips and strategies to take back to their organization.

If you want to read information about our recent Fall World 2007 conference, see the article on pages 74-77. To find information on the upcoming conference, March 30 - April 2 in Orlando, Fla., see pages 79-84 of this issue.

Our comprehensive 24-page brochure will be arriving via mail soon. Look for it and find out more details about our new dual sesssions, as well as see our entire list of speakers.

I look forward to meeting everyone at the next conference, no matter what department you work in. But, if you’re in the IT field, stop by and say hello! We can talk about the old days versus today’s world.

See you in Orlando!

 

"Appeared in DRJ's Fall 2007 Issue"