Disaster Recovery Journal

If your morning routine always began with "L'eggo My Eggo", the great waffle shortage of 2009 probably left you missing that warm buttery and syrupy goodness.  Considering that Eggos account for nearly 70% of frozen waffles, the shortage was treated as nothing less than a national calamity.  With a flooded plant in Atlanta and broken bakery in Tennessee, Americans across the nation were left with empty freezers and a bad taste in their mouths when Kellogg Company was unable to produce some of their favorite breakfast foods.

A recent full-page ad in USA Today (see photo) prompted me to revisit the great waffle shortage of 2009, as it provides such a clear and tasty case for business continuity planning.  Heavy rains in October 2009 kicked-off Eggo's sabbatical from kitchen tables across the country.  One Kellogg spokesperson wrote "We are experiencing temporary Eggo supply constraints caused by a confluence of events [caused by] flooding at our Atlanta facility as well as equipment issues necessitating extensive enhancements and repairs at our largest waffle bakery facility."  As a result, Kellogg's added a banner to the top of their website that stated, "Some of your favorite Eggo products are out of stock nationally. We are working hard to fix this short-term issue".  Little did they know that "short-term" would actually become nine months.

If you currently use Twitter and attended DRJ's Spring World, you're probably familiar with the #drjspring hashtag that connected users throughout the conference.  If not, the following post will bring you up to speed on how you can actively engage with other conference attendees during Fall World 2010.

Did you find a DRJ Fall World 2010 seminar particularly mind-blowing?  #drjfall.  Are you upset because people in the room next door were up all night arguing about PS-PREP?  #drjfall.  Wondering which local bar everyone is heading to at 5:00?  #drjfall.  Now, with one simple "hashtag", participants of DRJ's Fall World 2010 will be able to communicate and network with one another before, during and after one of the largest business continuity and disaster recovery conferences. 

Do you want to tell your stakeholders that your backup plan is to shoot golf balls, shredded tires, knotted rope and other materials at the problem?  Since my initial post on May 11 regarding the Gulf Oil Spill , news sources from across the country have made it clear that a lack of backup planning have allowed this environmental catastrophe to grow out of control.  Today, as the leak continues to pour crude oil into the Gulf, the term "backup plan" is being thrown around between industry professionals, government leaders and community members affected by the spill.  The "blame game" will continue for years, but the need for proactive backup planning is clear today. 

The following excerpts detail some of the frustration regarding the recent lack of backup planning in the Gulf and shed light on the need for backup planning in your own organization:

One of the ongoing problems in business continuity is articulating the business case in a way that resonates with executives and others in our organizations and doesn't require a twenty slide PowerPoint presentation.  In an attempt to help, "BC Stories - Elevator Pitches and Object Lessons" is a continuing series of posts based on timely and relevant news stories.  The idea is to give business continuity professionals ideas for informal conversations that highlight the need for planning while identifying potential pitfalls.

A simple search for "Gulf oil spill" in your favorite search engine will return dozens of links for sites that document the response (or lack thereof) to the Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  News reports over the past several days have criticized groups ranging from BP to the U.S. Government for their involvement in what the Unified Command is calling a "massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster".  Accidents can happen and unexpected events will always impact business operations, but proactive business continuity planning and documented recovery plans can help make the water a little less murky.

One of the ongoing problems in business continuity is articulating the business case in a way that resonates with executives and others in our organizations and doesn't require a twenty slide PowerPoint presentation.  In an attempt to help, "BC Stories - Elevator Pitches and Object Lessons" is a continuing series of posts based on timely and relevant news stories.  The idea is to give business continuity professionals ideas for informal conversations that highlight the need for planning while identifying potential pitfalls.

Ogdensburg, NY – March 25, 2010 – KingsBridge Disaster Recovery is pleased to announce the latest release of Phoenix recovery planning software. Phoenix Foundation combines the KingsBridge expertise in DRP/BCP plans with the power and flexibility of Microsoft SharePoint.

Phoenix Foundation debuted earlier this week at Disaster Recovery Journal SpringWorld in Orlando, Florida. This new software release for 2010 from KingsBridge is available in two versions: the Phoenix Foundation WSS version and the Phoenix Foundation Moss version.

Did you find a DRJ Spring World 2010 seminar particularly mind-blowing?  #drjspring.  Are you upset because people in the room next door were up all night arguing about PS-PREP?  #drjspring.  Wondering which local bar everyone is heading to at 5:00?  #drjspring.  Now, with one simple "hashtag", participants of DRJ's Spring World 2010 will be able to communicate and network with one another before, during and after one of the largest business continuity and disaster recovery conferences. 

Business Continuity professionals and organizations from around the world have turned to Twitter to interact with customers (or Followers) and share with them industry ideas and trends.  Similar to DRJ (known as @drjournal on Twitter) and yours truly (known as @avalution on Twitter), people are now able to communicate their thoughts, suggestions, questions, and feedback in real-time.  And, with the establishment of Spring World's own hashtag, conference attendees will be able to actively communicate their thoughts on the conference collectively. 

When the Lights Go Out – Disaster Recovery with a Generator

When you flick a switch you take it for granted that your lights, computer, air conditioning, coffee machine, etc. will seamlessly spring into life and that you will be able to work, be cool and drink coffee, right? Well, apparently you shouldn’t take it for granted. Emerson Network Power commissioned a study of small businesses in 2008 and found that:

I will admit it, I am a compulsive planner. I work in disaster recovery, so what do you expect? I am a complete detail freak and it frequently drives my family and co-workers to distraction.  It is with this personal obsession in mind (and perhaps because of) that I have been struck recently by the huge difference in interpretations of what the term “workplace preparedness” actually means to people.

With the Atlantic Hurricane season looming large on the horizon, we at Agility we have been reaching out to our members across the southeast and gulf coast regions to reinforce the need for preparedness. The difference in responses has been staggering.  Some companies have incredibly detailed and well-rehearsed DR plans focusing on their whole business (beyond just technology); whilst others are taking the “let’s keep our fingers crossed” approach in hopes that the next big hurricane passes them by. Let’s face it, even a Category 1 storm can result in power outages, structural damage and flooding, any of which can have a devastating effect on the unprepared finger-crossers amongst us.

At the end of the day, the longevity of your business as well as the livelihoods and safety of you and your employees isn’t something to be left to chance.  And so, with that in mind, I urge everyone out there, irrespective of geographic location, to re-evaluate their DR plans, and then re-evaluate them some more for good measure.  Take a “devil is in the detail” approach and make sure you leave as little to chance as possible.

For anyone who wants to get a little bit further into the nitty-gritty and make sure they really are as prepared as they think they are, we have a free webinar addressing preparedness coming up on May 27th. Visit http://www2.agilityrecovery.com/resources/events/2/Webinars for more information. Detail freaks like me are sure to love it.