Enterprise Systems Backup and Recovery: A Corporate Insurance Policy
by Preston de Guise

The success of information backup systems does not rest on IT administrators alone. Rather, a well-designed backup system comes about only when several key factors coalesce—business involvement, IT acceptance, best practice designs, enterprise software, and reliable hardware. Published in October, 2008 Enterprise Systems Backup and Recovery: A Corporate Insurance Policy provides organizations with a comprehensive understanding of the principles and features involved in effective enterprise backups.

336 pages. Order #DR831, $70.00.

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Nearly two in three executives with risk management responsibilities feel their organizations would benefit by taking a more strategic approach to risk, while fewer than one in five views their current risk program as strategic. At the same time, growth of the discipline of enterprise risk management (ERM) — a key component of many strategic risk management approaches — appears to be reaching a plateau.

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he economic slowdown will increase companies’ supply chain exposures, warns Marsh, a provider of insurance and risk management services. In the UK, for example, financial instability and deteriorating economic conditions are prompting companies to improve efficiency and drive down operating costs in their supply chains, said Marsh.

But it warns the moves will also increase their risk exposures. Marsh is advising companies to assess their supply chains and identify ways to mitigate risk. Options include reviewing their business interruption strategies, supplier network and financial exposures and taking advantage of new insurance solutions that address risks previously regarded as uninsurable.

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One of the products of testing your business continuity/disaster recovery program should be a documentation process to identify what went right, what went wrong, and what is still open in terms of issues. No issues during testing? Good for you, but not very helpful to strengthening your contingency plan.

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Vali J. Hawkins Mitchell was born in Seattle, Wash., during an earthquake that measured 7.1 on the Richter scale. Having survived her first natural disaster, Mitchell has made a career studying how individuals, organizations, and communities deal with both natural and manmade disasters.

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Those of you with children will remember this frequent question from the back seat of the car- the first time usually about 10% or so into the journey.  Can we I wonder ask the same question about business continuity and its development?

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The planning process for developing a data center disaster recovery plan is often viewed as a daunting task.  Much of the time the people who start the project - or new people added to assist - lack a good overview of the development components and process.  This leads to frustration, incomplete data collection, and missed deadlines.

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Incredible undersea cable scenario

by Nathaniel Forbes, ZDNet Asia

At 08:00 on Wednesday morning January 30, 2008, two ships 2,500 kilometers (1,600 miles) apart in the Mediterranean drop their anchors in stormy weather off Alexandria, Egypt, and Marseilles, France, at the same time. They both manage to drop their anchors directly onto two separate undersea cables buried 50 centimeters in the sand, each roughly the diameter of your wrist.

The two cables carry 75 percent of network traffic in the Middle East and South Asia. Your business in India or Egypt loses over half its international data and voice network capacity.

Two days later on Friday morning, February 1, a third cable is severed by an abandoned anchor embedded in the sea floor off the coast of Dubai, also 2,500 kilometers (1600 miles) from Alexandria, but in a different direction. That cable is owned by the Indian company that also owns one of the cables broken earlier.

Your voice and data networks are now crawling at just 25 percent of capacity. A spokesman for your business in India or Egypt calls it a “national disaster”.

Then two days later on Sunday Feb. 3, a fourth cable goes down, this time between the UAE and Qatar, from a power failure. Egypt’s Ministry of Communications announces, after a review of video footage, that the first cable break off Alexandria was not caused by a ship’s anchor, but offers no other explanation.

Incredible undersea cable scenario

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So, what was that about exercising your contingency plan…? A valuable book on exercising contingency plans is Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan, Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, Editor.

Pound for pound, testing is one of the best investments you can make in the area of disaster recovery. It’s truly where the recovery process is proven. Yet, many companies either don’t test at all or try and test too much at one time. Either approach can spell disaster.

When planning a data center disaster recovery plan exercise, usually performed at a hot site or internal company site (e.g., a second data center), following a few simple and logical steps will usually increase the likelihood of success.

Consider the following test scenarios:

• Test 1. Load the servers with the OS and bring up a basic network.
• Test 2. Add to Test 1 application data bases and critical systems.
• Test 3. Add to Tests 1 and 2 a small group of end users who can validate the status of the critical systems and data.
• Test 4. Add to Tests 1, 2 and 3 remote access (e.g., VPN) for critical applications so that end users can fully test recovery capabilities (including system functionality and performance).
• Test 5. Conduct a “surprise” test. This is basically a Level 4 test without any advanced planning or notification. Note that it is only recommended after four successful tests. These tests need very, very careful planning and are goals for everyone who is serious about data center disaster recovery.

The two most frequent mistakes companies make are:

1. Conduct Test 1 repeatedly
2. Proceed directly to Test 4, without preliminary testing

Neither approach provides good results. What typically works is a well-thought-out and logical sequence of test complexity.

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A sound Disaster Recovery Plan is essential for any data center. Jan Persson’s GO.RECOVER-Data Center Template is a powerful yet easy-to-use tool for under $100.

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A valuable book on exercising contingency plans is Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan, Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, Editor.

New book by Jeffrey R. Ryan - available August, 2008:

Pandemic Influenza: Emergency Planning and Community Preparedness

• Analyze the threat of pandemics in general, and influenza specifically
• Identify principles associated with the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza
• Assess factors leading to an outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, including its potential effect on the economy
• Evaluate the use of pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical measures
• Determine response actions of various emergency services disciplines as they relate to communications, travel, and quarantine
• Examine the components of service continuation essential for the private sector to remain intact during a severe pandemic

“… an amazing resource … Dr. Ryan has assembled some of the best experts in the field to guide you in understanding the threat of pandemic influenza and how it can affect you and the people you are responsible for. …” - From the foreword by Lynn A. Slepski, Captain, United States Public Health Service

No one is immune to the potential devastation of a mass pandemic influenza outbreak. Yet despite recent small-scale outbreaks and dire warnings from the World Health Organization that such an event is imminent and overdue, our preparedness continues to lag. Part of the problem is that while a national plan is important, all the real action must occur at the local level. Triage, care, and containment, along with maintenance of the infrastructure, are functions that must be carried out by local planners and responders.

Pandemic Influenza: Emergency Planning and Community Preparedness introduces readers to the critical global and domestic issues regarding a potential pandemic. Featuring the contributions of leading experts, this volume arms planners and responders with an understanding of outbreak containment and response planning and provides an analysis of our present capabilities and potential weaknesses.

The first section reviews the history of pandemics and discusses the deadly 1918 Spanish flu. The middle chapters examine the biology of the virus and the clinical aspects of influenza, with special attention given to Avian Influenza. The final chapters examine international and federal programs and discuss response at the local level, including service continuation planning and fatality management.

Public health and emergency preparedness professionals, as well as policy makers at all levels will find a wealth of information to help them create a plan and allocate the proper resources to mitigate the devastation of a pandemic influenza.

Special Offer!

Be prepared! Purchase Pandemic Influenza, along with the Pandemic Preparation and Response Plan Template for Business on CD-ROM for $119.90.