BS 31100 is a new standard for risk management.  Recently released by the British Standards Institution, it provides an understanding on how to develop, implement and maintain effective risk management within a business.

Continue reading New Risk Management Standard – BS 31100:2008

Tags: Risk Management, Standards

Suppose your phone system suddenly failed. What would you do? Who would you call? First, you need to determine if either the system failed or there was a problem in the network, or both. Many years ago, it was possible to make one call to resolve the situation. Not so today; many players affect your voice and data communications, and it’s important to know which one to call in an emergency.

Continue reading Don’t Forget Telecommunications in Your Disaster Plans: 20 Tips

Tags: Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, telecom disaster recovery, Telecommunications

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers the Learning Resource Center which offers a wealth of bibliographic materials relating to specific, significant disaster incidents, such as

• Earthquakes
• Fires
• Hurricanes
• Terrorist Incidents
• Other Disasters

Tags: disasters, Earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, terrorist incidents

The 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season produced a record number of consecutive storms to strike the United States and ranks as one of the more active seasons in the 64 years since comprehensive records began.

A total of 16 named storms formed this season, based on an operational estimate by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. The storms included eight hurricanes, five of which were major hurricanes at Category 3 strength or higher.  These numbers fall within the ranges predicted in NOAA’s pre- and mid-season outlooks issued in May and August.  The August outlook called for 14 to 18 named storms, seven to 10 hurricanes and three to six major hurricanes.  An average season has 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.

Continue reading 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season Sets New Records

Tags: hurricane

In the second part of this article we offer examples of how standards language can be transformed into policy.

Hopefully in Part 1 we convinced you that using standards and legislation for policymaking is a good idea. Now let’s look at how we can transform standards into policies. In the following examples we take excerpts from BS 25999 and ISO/IEC 24762 and rewrite them into a policy format.

Continue reading How to Use Business Continuity Standards to Write Policies – Part 2

Tags: business continuity policymaking, Business continuity standards, Standards

Final results of a recent survey by Continuity Central entitled “The Global Financial Crisis and Its Impact on the Business Continuity Market” show that the effects of the credit crunch vary markedly from region to region.  A total of 212 responses were received from around the world.

Continue reading Survey: Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Business Continuity Market

Tags: Business Continuity, Surveys

The Disaster Recovery Journal, in conjunction with independent research firm Isurus Market Research and Consulting, is conducting an important research study.  Participate in the survey and receive an executive summary of the results.  Click here to go to the survey.

Tags: Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Surveys

Earthquakes are far more than just geological phenomena — they can greatly alter the way people live by damaging whole communities.

A new USGS video production, “The Great Southern California ShakeOut: An Earthquake Scenario Based On Science,” shows how science is used by government agencies, emergency responders, policymakers and the public to help build safer communities.

Continue reading Video: Successful Southern California Earthquake Drill

Tags: Disaster Recovery, disaster recovery exercise, earthquake preparedness, quake

How long would your business survive an interruption? What if operations were destroyed by fire or flood, negative media drives away customers or the company database is stolen or infected by a virus? How well are you prepared to deal with disaster?

This comprehensive guide tells you why you need a plan and then will help you put one together, including fully updated, detailed glossary and additional examples from the USA, Australia and Europe. Clearly split into useful sections, the book is easy to navigate.

Continue reading New Book: The Definitive Handbook of Business Continuity Management, 2nd Edition

Tags: book, Business Continuity, Business Continuity Management

A new standard for information and communications technology (ICT) continuity management, known as BS 25777, Code of Practice for ICT Continuity, will be released soon by the British Standards Institution.

Continue reading Coming Soon: New BC Standard BS 25777

Tags: Business continuity standards, Standards

Mimecast, a holistic e-mail management company offering Software as a Service (SaaS)-based e-mail archiving, continuity and security, has found that 50 percent of U.S. companies are at risk of sensitive information leaks by employee e-mails, based on a survey of 500 IT professionals regarding their e-mail archiving and continuity policies.

Continue reading Survey: Half Of U.S. Companies Risk Sensitive Information Leaks via E-Mail

Tags: Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, email security, information security, Mimecast