Issue Archive: July/August 2005

Business Continuity should be designed as an integral part of an organization's migration to access infrastructure. Planning for access significantly reduces the complexity and cost of implementing a business continuity solution while elevating the probability of its success.

Gaining commitment and resources is the most important task a continuity professional faces. If we cannot secure what we need and get people behind us, nothing else matters. Unfortunately, few continuity professionals have the kind of "sales" experience that could help make them successful. The good news is, we can use our natural orientation toward process to our advantage.

The bigger the risk, the harder it is to plan to deal with it. BCP is most difficult for hazards that can cause effects that are terminal, irreversible, and present the greatest peril to s-as individuals, corporations, communities, or society at large. The very size and potential of these major risks is compelling, yet we remain strangely powerless when actually faced with them.

Is it necessary for professionals working in the field to expand the concept of organizational continuity to not only include but to prioritize the human factor. Many crisis managers and organizational planners have learned by experience that it is often easier to recover IT than to recover HT.

Nextel Communications has embarked on building a world-class business continuity program. As a leading provider of communications services to first responders and 95 percent of Fortune 500 companies, the stakes are high.

While the world watches Indian Ocean tsunami survivors continue to rebuild and provides aid to ease the burden, BCP managers are also taking action. Increasing reports warning that 50-foot tsunamis could hit Southern California and 80-foot tsunamis could wash away the coastline from New York to Florida sparked interest and corporate awareness. Since the June 14 tsunami warning in the Pacific Northwest, more companies and government agencies along the coast are working to distribute pamphlets, install beach sirens, and update or install early warning systems.