Continuity planning not about planning for the event but planning for the impact

I recently read an article by the CEO of Onyx Group ( http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/opinion/2133927/-step-business-continuity ), Neil Stephenson, about the necessity of planning for all types of scenarios and not just natural disasters – the article proved quite interesting. First of all, it is interesting to see the CEO of a company promoting business continuity planning in such an open and definitive way. Second, Neil Stephenson suggests that continuity planners plan for all potential impactful scenarios (and not just natural disasters). This is particularly interesting as it is a point raised by someone not practicing contingency planning for a living, yet it is something that contingency planners often forget. So often, planners get caught up in the excitement and fear associated with tornadoes, floods, and ice storms, and ignore other potentially more impactful situations (pandemics, IT malfunction, theft of client data, and so on).

As stated, I agree with Neil on all accounts, as noted above, however, we must also remember that it is dangerous to get ‘into the weeds’ when developing business continuity plans. Instead, we should be planning for impacts associated with all of these events (i.e. loss of IT capability, loss of critical / confidential information, loss of facility(ies), and / or loss of personnel). Proceeding in this way ensures that we have addressed all potential impactful events (natural events or otherwise) without complicating our business continuity programs, and confusing the purpose of those programs.

This is my final blog until early in the new year as I am heading out of the country, however, I am already looking forward to continuing on into 2012!

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Thank you and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

The Continuity Blogger

Top Disasters of 2011 – Have Your Say

It is hard to imagine that 2011 is coming to a close. 2011 proved to be an incredible year for my organization in terms of developing and utilizing our contingency planning program. We made significant strides when it comes to developing, testing, and exercising continuity plans, and on numerous occasions we were required to activate one component or another of our contingency planning program. Key individuals and teams were activated to respond to long term and widespread power outages, IT outages, and several situations which had the potential to turn into full-scale PR crises. While responding to and recovering from these situations proved tiresome and daunting at times, the general awareness around our contingency planning program increased ten-fold as a result of these response and recovery efforts. Undergoing several contingency plan activations also allowed the organization to determine what worked and what did not work – plans and procedures were adapted as needed and as necessary.

2011 was also a very busy year in terms of historically significant natural disasters. I am sure that several of you were impacted in one way or another by one or more of these events and have many lessons to share with fellow contingency planning practitioners as a result.

I have listed what I would consider to be the top 10 natural disasters of 2011 below. I have considered population impacted, business disruption caused, death and injury toll, total economic impact, as well as overall shock factor, when ranking these events.

1. March Earthquake and Tsunami - Japan

2. Ongoing Famine - Africa

3. February Earthquake – New Zealand

4. October Floods - Thailand

5. April / May Tornadoes – Southern United States

6. January Floods - Australia  

7. Hurricane Irene – Eastern United States

8. Volcanic Eruptions and associated Ash Plumes – Iceland and Europe

9. October Earthquake - Turkey

10. Fall Wildfires – Texas, United States

Would you change the ranking of these events, and if so, how? Were you impacted by one of these events, and if so, how did your business fare?

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Regards,

The Continuity Blogger

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