NYSE- FAIL

As I sit in my computer room looking outside on a gloomy Fall day, I am left to ask myself - How did this happen? Yes, this is Canada in late November and yes, it is indeed normal to be rainy and cold. This is not why I am asking HOW.

I am asking how as, between teleconference meetings this morning, I came across the following article:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9233125/Even_with_prep_did_Wall_Street_s_business_continuity_plans_fail_?taxonomyId=154&pageNumber=1

How can it be that, in 2012, with nearly two weeks notice of an impending disaster, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) can find itself in such a predicament? Surely they must have considered the impacts that such a storm would have on their business prior to developing their continuity plans and strategies. Surely they must have asked 'what happens to our people power' in the event of such a geographically large, lengthy and impactful crisis. And, surely, they must have confirmed that they had all doomsday scenarios covered when they reported on their business continuity program annually to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Maybe not.

The NYSE made the age-old error of investing in, relying on, and reporting on their IT disaster recovery capability only. They failed to consider a scenario in which the infrastructure would fail and actual people would be required on-site (or at least within a building with power) when doing their business continuity planning. In 2012, it is no-longer acceptable to forget about such things. Considering your technology, people, information, and image are no brainers when developing your contingency strategies.

As much as this situation saddens me, it also gives me hope that... maybe my skill set and services are still required as much as they ever were.

For the record - a straightforward hot-site solution located away from the coastline elsewhere in New England is all that it would have taken to keep the NYSE up and running...

Thank you for reading,

The Continuity Blogger

Follow me on Twitter @continuity_blog