Articles
Verifying Information With Social Media
January 29, 2013 10:02 am | by John Orlando, PhD, Vertek Corporation | CommentsHow do we gather, authenticate and integrate information from a variety of sources -- citizen, mass media, official, etc. -- to develop situational awareness? Verifying techniques fall into two categories: reliability of source and outside confirmation.
Speakers’ Soapbox: Tracy Stourac On BC Scorecards & President Kennedy
January 21, 2013 11:31 am | by Luke Simpson, Editor | CommentsIn the leadup to the 11th Annual Continuity Insights Management Conference, Tracy Stourac, Business Continuity Manager at TransUnion, discusses BC scorecards, the importance of personal preparation and why President Kennedy would have made a good business continuity professional.
Harnessing The Wisdom Of Crowds
December 3, 2012 11:45 am | by John Orlando, PhD, Vertek Corporation | CommentsCrowdsourcing can serve as a counter-balance to the interpersonal forces that might steer a closed group of experts off course. The public is a resource that can assist disaster responders by providing valuable information and perspectives. The secret is knowing how to gather the information so as to make the public a resource. This is done with a “Virtual Operations Support Team” (VOST).
BCM Exercises Don't Have To Be Boring: 3 Party Games For Effective & Memorable Exercises
November 26, 2012 1:36 pm | by Alison Kashin, Chief Creative & Technology Officer, Lootok | CommentsGaming is an excellent way to increase learning retention and enhance teaming. Exercises are serious business, but with some inspiration from three popular party games you can let participants have a little fun while raising awareness about your business continuity management (BCM) program.
Leveraging Your BCP Into A Competitive Advantage
November 9, 2012 4:39 pm | by Luke Simpson, Editor | CommentsWhile BC programs (BCPs) offer immense value to organizations they are not always leveraged to give the organization an edge over competitors. Andy Vanderhoff, President of Quantivate, discusses the ways you can publicize your BCP and use it to achieve cost savings, as well as the lean manufacturing conundrum: necessary redundancy versus lean principles.
Use Of The Incident Command System To Manage An IT Outage At Arizona State University
November 6, 2012 9:30 am | by Allen Clark, Ed Copp & Deborah Roepke | CommentsDuring the early morning hours on January 18, 2012, a hacker gained access to the ASU computer systems and removed a list of passwords. The IT incident response team recommended the incident be classified as high-level and email systems be shut down. Within minutes of establishing the first bridge-line call, a member of ASU’s media team suggested the use of ICS to manage this incident.
The Solar Storm Threat | Part 2: Basic Steps You Can Take To Protect Your Business
October 23, 2012 10:42 am | by Keith Erwood, Vice President & Principal Consultant, Continuity Co., LLC | CommentsAny electronic equipment left in the open is considered unshielded and vulnerable to the effects of a geomagnetic storm. Studies have shown that you can offer some protection by simply turning off and unplugging unshielded pieces of equipment. The most effective way to protect equipment is by shielding it with a Faraday cage.
The Solar Storm Threat | Part 1: How Solar Flares & CMEs Can Impact Your Business
October 15, 2012 4:34 pm | by Keith Erwood, Vice President & Principal Consultant, Continuity Co., LLC | CommentsSolar activity has picked up in recent years; we are headed into what is known as the solar maximum of the solar cycle. The solar maximum is expected to occur in May 2013 and NASA has predicted this will be “the most intense solar maximum in fifty years.”
Speakers' Soapbox: David Nolan On The Evolution Of BC & Michael Andretti
October 12, 2012 10:12 am | CommentsIn the leadup to Continuity Insights New York, October 29-30, 2012 at The Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, David Nolan, CEO of Fusion Risk Management, discusses the concept of continuity risk management, game changing technology and Michael Andretti's measured risks.
Data Breach Is Inevitable — Keys To An Effective Response
October 8, 2012 3:57 pm | by Dr. Ed Goldberg, Core Faculty, Capella University School of Business & Technology | CommentsFor their disastrous reputational and financial consequences, coupled with the near-100 percent likelihood of occurrence, data breaches should be seen as one of the organization’s most significant business continuity challenges. Planning can help to mitigate and avoid the legal and reputational risks that otherwise accompany such incidents.
Notification System Selection: A Case Study
September 24, 2012 4:40 pm | by Luke Simpson, Editor | CommentsNotification systems are vital for crisis communications and a big investment for business continuity departments. Editorial board member Mike Keating, Vice President of Business Continuity Management at Reinsurance Group of America, recently upgraded his organization’s notification system and learnt a lot about the latest features in the process.
Speakers' Soapbox: Mark Haimowitz On Large-Scale Disasters, Staying Relevant & Paul McCartney
September 21, 2012 11:17 am | by Luke Simpson, Editor | CommentsContinuity Insights speaks with Mark Haimowitz, Director of Business Continuity Planning at Disney ABC Television Network, about how technology affects BC plans, event-agnostic disaster planning and what business continuity professionals can learn from Paul McCartney.
Doing More With Less: Recovery Services
September 17, 2012 1:02 pm | by Luke Simpson, Editor | CommentsContinuity Insights speaks with Walt Thomasson, Managing Director at Rentsys Recovery Services, about how business continuity professionals can streamline their organizations’ disaster recovery solutions, mobile recovery trends, the importance of testing, and recovering multiple locations.
3 Simple Complexities Of Data Protection
September 11, 2012 10:30 am | by Dennis Wenk, Symantec | CommentsProtecting valuable data assets is a central concern for business continuity management. But data, like risk, comes in gradations. And like risk, the cost of copying data needs to be in balance with the benefits that it provides. After all, the only rational reason to spend money is to achieve a benefit.
The Effects Of 9/11 & Katrina On Hospital Preparedness
August 28, 2012 5:29 pm | by Catherine Hartwell, Disaster Responder, American Red Cross | CommentsBefore 9/11 hospitals lacked structured disaster plans and were inadequately prepared to properly respond to large-scale events. They were unable to both handle the surge of patients after a mass casualty event and continue operations after losing powe. In 2005, the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina exposed hospital’s insufficient preparations for coordinating with outside agencies.
