or allocated BCP/DR costs.
An increase in executives,
accepting risk, rather than mitigating or paying for disaster
recovery may result in reduced
BCP capabilities,” said David
Shimberg, business continuity/disaster recovery manager
of Premier Inc.
Attending Fewer Training
and Awareness Programs
Economic conditions have
decreased attendance at
major conferences and enrollment in formalized training.
This results in a smaller pool
of well-trained and up-to-date
business continuity planners. Many have expressed
concern about the shrinking
educational budget and the
ramifications of it.
“Budgets for training and
associated programs have
been severely slashed over
the past two years and support from sponsors and exhibitors that help support training
programs and conferences
has also been reduced,” said
Shimberg.
Conference attendance
provides invaluable information, networking, and prob-lem-sharing. It also offers a
chance to attend certification
courses and gather continuing education activity points
for maintaining existing certifications.
“Non-certified BC/DR planners are having a hard time
obtaining certification, which
provides a decided advantage,
and certified professionals are
having a hard time justifying
conference attendance which
provides critical CEAPs,”
said James O. Price, CBCP,
3J Contingency Planning
Services.
Implementing
New Technology
A variety of new technologies and methodologies have
emerged in the past few years.
Virtualization, cloud computing, and others have jumped to
the forefront. Are planners fully
ready for these technologies?
Has there been adequate
training set in place? Are the
benefits and drawbacks fully
explored for your organization? These questions and
more are on the list of industry
experts.
“New technologies, such as
virtualization and cloud computing, are playing an increasingly prominent role in the
data center. BC/DR planners
need to increase their knowledge on how to address and
protect against new, potential problems and issues, as
well as how to use these new
technologies as part of their
disaster recovery solutions,”
advised Kathleen Aris, senior
manager, events marketing for
SunGard Availability Services.
Exploring Industry
Standards
The emergence of new
industry standards and regulations have kept planners busy
as they struggle to understand
and relate these to their organizations. The push to establish one international standard
(ISO) is emerging. This concept, along with managing
current regulations and standards, will require much attention for continuity planners in
2010.
Debate over the ISO has
already begun and will only
increase in the upcoming year.
Practitioners must also learn
about the ramifications, penalties, and documentation that
accompany the standards.
This process can be very
time-consuming and sometimes confusing. Proper education on the standards will be
essential for practitioners.
Preparing for Pandemics
This subject has gained
much attention in the past
year and will continue to do so
in 2010. The emergence of the
H1N1 virus brought awareness
of pandemic planning to its
highest point. Previously, cau-
tion over the Avian Influenza,
or Bird Flu, kept this topic in
the spotlight. Despite the mas-
sive media coverage, there is
much work to be done in pro-
viding competent pandemic
planning. This includes not
only preparing for a possible
outbreak, but also battling the
complacently that often comes
with these types of long-term
events.
Establishing Remote
Workstations
Telecommuting has
become a top issue in the past
few years, partly because of a
potential pandemic, but also
for environmental and cost-saving reasons. Employers
must plan for the possibility of
having personnel work from
alternate locations. With the
emergence of new technology
and security risks, the process
is a continual one.
Experts have said the
demand for remote workstations will grow at a fast pace.
As these demands grow, consideration must be given to
the overall infrastructure. And
in the case of a pandemic or
other major disaster, there are
even more issues to examine.
Is existing infrastructure
enough to handle increased
usage? If a pandemic were to
occur, would current bandwidth
be adequate? Are there plans
in place to limit non-essential
use of the Internet? All of
these concerns are something
to consider in 2010. As the
need for available technology
increases, the demand must
be met in a timely manner.
Managing Expanded Roles
in BC Programs
Business continuity programs are no longer only about
technology or facility loss. It
is important to encompass a
wide range of responsibilities.
According to Robert Giffin,
director, Avalution Consulting,
the scope of business continuity has expanded to include
pandemic/personnel loss in
2009 and will expand further
to areas such as data breach
and other high impact, low
likelihood events. This expansion was recently addressed
in an article by Brian Zawada,
MBCP, director of consulting services for Avalution
Consulting. He encourages
planners to involve their BC
program in other areas of the
organization, adding to the
value of the program.
“Become more value-added
by rethinking your program’s
boundaries and your contributions to business continuity
management. Expand beyond
traditional availability risks
and begin to affect change
by coordinating risk mitigation
strategies and/or responses to
a broader series of operational
risks with business continuity
implications,” said Zawada in
the article.
Improving Public and
Private Cooperation
It is vital to continue to build
solid relationships between
public and private sectors.
With the increased push for
resiliency in all sectors, continuity planners need to strive
to build better and more productive relationships between
the two sectors. Efforts should
be made to include public officials in an organization’s planning discussions. In return,
the public sector must include
the private sector when establishing plans for public infrastructure, transit, and more.
Cooperative exercises and
training would be very beneficial for both sectors.
v
Janette Ballman has
served as an editor
with Disaster Recovery
Journal since 1991.
She has reported on
numerous disasters and business
continuity issues during that time.
Ballman received a journalism
degree from Mississippi University
for Women in 1989.
