EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final in a series of columns featuring the members of our executive council. Through these personal accounts, we hope to have given you an intimate view of the history of the disaster recovery/business continuity industry.
Unlike the other columns in this series, the subject of this piece is not the author. The career of Ed Devlin, commonly known as the "Father of Disaster Recovery Planning," is recounted by his son, Sean.
A child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He’d say, "I’m gonna be like you, Dad.
You know I’m gonna be like you."
It was November 1972 when I came into the world in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Just about that time, business continuity planning was undergoing a major change. Just two months prior, a fire had destroyed three major coamputer systems in the IBM program information department in Hawthorne, N.Y. IBM had activated their emergency plan successfully and brought their systems back within 19 days. But a shift had occurred. The contingency plan changed to the disaster recovery plan, and teams such as disaster site restoration team and recovery headquarters team were created.
That was a springboard for Edward S. Devlin to co-found Devlin Associates Inc. in 1973, the first company in the U.S. to specialize in disaster recovery planning consulting services. He pioneered much of the terminology, philosophy, and procedures within the industry. For that, he became known as "The Father of Disaster Recovery Planning," but to me, he was simply Dad.
There were certainly planes to catch as Dad traveled to 46 of the 50 states as a speaker and consultant over the years. In those early years as I was learning to walk, talk and love the Philadelphia sports teams, Dad was traveling to Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Miami for seminars. I remember his bags coming to and fro. As he prepared to travel I remember watching him lay out his suits in the bedroom as he packed and spreading out his overhead transparencies in his office as he organized for his trips.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, Dad?" "I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then.
You know we’ll have a good time then."
Whenever he was home in the summer, I would carry my bucket and shovel down to the beach while Dad toiled with the umbrella and chairs at the New Jersey shore. As the leaves began to fall, I remember loading up the station wagon and heading down to Vet Stadium for some pre-game tailgating before the Eagles’ games. And when the snows came, Dad would shovel the driveway before he helped me sled down the back hill on my Flexible Flyer.
Following Dad’s presentations, articles were written about his comments such as one in Computerworld from 1976 entitled "Food Marts Not Immune to Hardware Threats" or Risk Management’s "Computer Failure Could Pull Plug On Many Firms" in 1980. He was giving presentations to Metropolitan Life, Monsanto, and Pizza Hut in the early years of Devlin Associates. Then before I turned 10, he was also seeing Pepsico, Frito Lay, and Taco Bell. And of course he started the first conference dedicated to business continuity and disaster recovery planning in June 1977, which he held annually for 16 consecutive years.
But as I recall, the biggest event of those early years for Dad was an arson fire in a Philadelphia insurance company, which hit their computer forms storage room adjacent to the mainframe. Since it was a local event, Dad could dissect and analyze it even further than normal. The company CEO was quoted on the disaster in the local paper, a quote that rattled policy holders. From then on, companies had to pre-establish who would be the spokesperson trained in how to deal with the media.
My son turned 10 just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That’s okay."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,
It said, "I’m gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I’m gonna be like him."
Well, I did turn 10 and about that time, Dad began speaking annually at the BAI School for Bank Administration conference at the University of Wisconsin. Nearby a key turning point in the industry occurred during the massive Norwest Bankcorp headquarters building fire in Minneapolis. Many of the bank’s business operations were affected, and for the first time recovery planning had to include departments beyond the IT sector. Companies now had to plan how to resume business following a major disaster, and thus the business resumption plan was created.
Meanwhile, Dad was increasing his travel to include areas outside the U.S. as he made presentations in Yokohama, Buenos Aires, and Sao Paulo. And from those trips, he was able to sample sushi and sashimi for the first time. To this day he raves about the beef from Argentina and Brazil. I would hear stories about his trips whenever he got home, and of course I got some little souvenir for good measure.
During a trip to Denver, Dad pulled his back out when he tried to hustle in the airport and grab one of his huge suitcases off the turnstile. After seeing him in traction at the hospital upon his return, I remember him vowing to cut down on his packing. Yet to this day, I don’t believe that has happened.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, Dad?" "I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then.
You know we’ll have a good time then."
Dad continued to write numerous articles, foreshadowing much greater writing to come. And around that time, SunGard Data Systems purchased Devlin Associates in July of 1987, whereupon Dad was named executive vice president for SunGard’s consulting group, Harris Devlin Associates (later changed to SunGard Planning Solutions).
He continued his speaking engagements including his annual forays to the Computer Security Institute’s sessions in Anaheim, Miami, and Atlanta as well as speaking to the Association of Contingency Planners (ACP) in various parts of the country from 1989-1992. He parlayed that love of speaking into his first appearance in front of a camera as a participant in McCaw Communications’ "Disaster Preparedness" in 1990.
As he and I still loved to go to the Eagles’ and Flyers’ games when he was home (including one scary drive home after a Flyers’ game during an ice storm), Dad began to collect hockey and football jerseys from the cities he would visit. We still have those jerseys to this day, among them Lemiuex, Gretzky, Elway, and MacInnis, all stored safely away.
Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I’m proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
"What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?"
I headed off to college at the University of Richmond (Va.) in 1990, and Dad and I would cross paths during our brief times at home. We would make sure to catch up during weekly phone calls and laments about the state of Philadelphia sports. On Thanksgiving weekend of 1990, Dad and I rekindled our Eagles’ excursions during a game against the unbeaten Giants. Of course the Gang Green defense destroyed Parcells’ guys, and I enjoyed a happy ride back to Virginia as Dad drove me back to the freshmen dorms.
Dad was given the Bank Administration Institute’s achievement award in 1990, and followed that up with achievement awards from the ACP and the Delaware Valley Disaster Recovery Information Exchange Group in 1992. That same year, Dad’s career took a major change in direction. He retired from Sungard Planning Solutions, which held a retirement party (roast) for him during their Marco Island, Fla., conference. I remember attending that conference and speaking to Bill Murray from IBM. During the course of that discussion, Bill told me that the most influential man of the 20th century was Walt Disney; little did I know where I would end up a few years later.
After leaving Sungard, Dad concentrated on co-authoring the book "Business Resumption Planning" which is was considered "the Bible" for BRP. He also began writing a column in Richard Arnold’s Disaster Recovery Journal. The column is titled "The Perspective of Ed Devlin," one which he still contributes to the magazine. He began speaking at DRJ’s bi-annual conferences, and his enthusiasm for those events continues to this day.
One year later, a dramatic shift happened in the industry as a result of the World Trade Center bombing in the parking garage. Now the business resumption plan needed to be joined to the prevention and emergency response plans, and a resulting in the need for an executive to lead the overall business continuity.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then, Dad.
You know we’ll have a good time then."
We indeed had a good time as I graduated college in 1994. Afterward, I puzzled over what path to follow; I was writing screenplays while working part-time. In between speaking engagements, Dad provided advice about my direction in both writing and settling into a job. He spoke at the MIS Training Symposiums in Orlando and San Diego, while continuing his bi-annual engagements with Disaster Recovery Journal. Dad also provided educational presentations for Strohl Systems from 1995 to 1997.
His speaking opportunities were expanded when The Survive Organization (Great Britain) asked him to speak in various parts of the world, from Johannesburg to Sydney, and Bournemouth (England) to Wellington (New Zealand). Dad thoroughly enjoyed touring and working in these exciting parts of the world.
In 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing shook the country to its core, but taught an extremely important lesson to the industry – the private sector needed to establish a working relationship with the public sector authorities long before a disaster struck. And another lesson arose in 1999 as the country focused on the Y2K potential for computers and their chips to fail. All companies were suddenly forced to work around their plans, and figure out how their businesses would function if there was indeed a failure. Every company had to focus on the contingency planning process, change their software and in some cases upgrade their hardware.
I’ve long since retired and my son’s moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I’d like to see you if you don’t mind."
He said, "I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time.
You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kids have the flu,
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad.
It’s been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He’d grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.
Although Dad did not retire, he did slow down his travels. He continued his participation in various seminars and presentations, especially with the Disaster Recovery Journal. Never lacking a word either spoken or written, he continued writing articles and providing videos for the industry, culminating in BCP Media’s DVD titled, "The Crisis Management Plan." He was voted into the Contingency Planning and Management Hall of Fame in 1998 and is a member of the executive council of Disaster Recovery Journal magazine. His writing achievements will culminate with the release of his new book to be titled, "The Art of Preparing Executives To Manage A Crisis."
Meanwhile, I moved to California in 1995 and began working for The Walt Disney Company in Burbank. Over the years, Dad has been out to share time enjoying walks around the Disney Studio Lot, visits to Disneyland, my wedding in Toluca Lake, and watching my two girls grow up. My role in the company has evolved and grown within the corporate operations group and as such, it has become challenging to keep up with the weekly phone calls while juggling the responsibility of Michael Eisner’s move out and Bob Iger’s move in. Of course apples don’t fall far from apple trees as I am a member of Disney’s emergency operations team.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then, Dad.
We’re gonna have a good time then."
After graduating from LaSalle University and being honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant with the U.S. Army, Dad has forged a trail for the disaster recovery planning industry to follow. From Capetown to Calgary, from Greensboro to Greenbrier, and from San Francisco to San Antonio, he criss-crossed the globe in an effort to educate companies and ensure their success during a crisis. He established guidelines and phrases that didn’t exist, and pushed the industry to learn from its past misfortunes while planning for the future.
He is honored to be included as a member of the Disaster Recovery Journal Executive Council.
v
E. Sean Devlin is a senior manager of corporate operations for the Walt Disney Company in Burbank, Calif. Devlin graduated as a journalism major from the University of Richmond, in Richmond, Va.
Lyrics by Harry Chapin from his song "Cat’s In The Cradle"
"Appeared in DRJ's Spring 2007 Issue"
