We also know with dating that things
do not always work out. So, what’s the
rub? The rub is that there is a lot of
Kabuki Theater to all of this, that while
very necessary, does not always tell you
all you need to know about the consultant you are about to hire.
Character Counts
If you have read this article to this
point, you realize by now that after
paying the homage due to the obvious
selection criteria for picking a business
continuity consultant, we are talking
about the “not so obvious” selection
criteria. There is a story of the interesting recruiting techniques used by one
of the more successful trading firms on
Wall Street. Trading is a tough, grinding
business that not all are suited for. Many
cannot take the intensity and pressures
of trading.
As a group of potential hires were
being reviewed, almost all who have
near perfect grades, many college of
activities and clubs, etc., there is one
who just has a good G.P.A, and no clubs
or activities. He works every spare hour
he can to pay for his education. That
is the one they decide to hire. Why?
Evidence of the character and drive to
succeed despite the odds.
“It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how
the strong man stumbles, or
where the doer of deeds could
have done them better. The
credit belongs to the man who is
actually in the arena, whose face
is marred by dust and sweat and
blood, who strives valiantly; who
errs and comes short again and
again; because there is not effort
without error and shortcomings;
but who does actually strive to do
the deed; who knows the great
enthusiasm, the great devotion,
who spends himself in a worthy
cause, who at the best knows
in the end the triumph of high
achievement and who at the
worst, if he fails, at least he fails
while daring greatly. So that his
place shall never be with those
cold and timid souls who know
neither victory nor defeat.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
Passion, drive, and a commitment to
excellence are what make a good business continuity consultant a great one.
Find consultants who, beyond the pristine view we all must present during the
Kabuki Dance, bring to the table evidence of life experience and a holistic,
yet pragmatic appreciation for what will
work and what will not.
Find people who have successes, yet
also failures who can honestly describe
what they have learned from both. Find
people who seem to have the common
touch and can equally understand what
the CEO needs for the entire enterprise to
be successful, yet can also equally understand what the worker on the ground needs
to do to make things really happen.
Finding These People
This is where this becomes an art and
not a science. Once, while deciding on a
potential sub-contractor partner for a consulting assignment we wished to bid on,
we made on-site visits to the offices of the
candidates to get to know them better, and
decide on who we wanted to team with.
Each visit would result in the normal
exchanges of information. All were well
qualified and very close in capabilities. We
felt good mutual chemistry in every case.
It was hard to decide who to choose.
The last place we visited was a small
company that was working very hard to
be successful. During the visit, as we
were leaving, we spied a sign over their
door. People, who worked there, on their
way out, reached up and slapped the
sign. It said:
“Do what it takes for our clients
to be successful and we will be
successful.”
You do have to look for clues. We
decided at that moment that they were
the right partner for us.
Find great business continuity consultants the same way. Find people who
think about planning like Napoleon did,
that Theodore Roosevelt would have
liked to hang out with.
v
Dick Broome is a senior associate with
Booz Allen Hamilton with more than 35
years of military, continuity, and crisis
response experience.
nDATA PROTECTION
Increasing the
Value of DR
in Everyday
Operations
By JIM O’CONNOR
Disaster recovery is both a time- consuming and expensive initiative, but for those com- panies that have experienced a
real-world catastrophe, the investment of
time and money they’ve made in designing, implementing, and maintaining a DR
strategy is immeasurable. It is this very
reason disaster recovery continues to rank
among the top enterprise storage priorities
today.
The process of rolling out a recovery
plan from start to finish involves a significant amount of forethought, time, cooperation, and logistics. Support for DR and
adherence to it across the enterprise is critical to its success, and ultimately the success and longevity of the enterprise itself.
There are many options to consider with
regard to technologies and techniques, and
a number of common denominators exist
across the board for companies ranked
best-in-class for disaster recovery, including testing frequency and procedure,
situational performance optimization, regulatory compliance, and media reliability.
Test Often and
Test Non-Disruptively
Only 5 percent of best-in-class enterprises perform disaster recovery testing
on a monthly basis, according to a 2008
research study by Aberdeen Group. For
most companies, the frequency of testing
often depends on two factors: resources
and technology.
Testing traditional tape-based systems
involve shipping tapes, sometimes by
the thousands, to the remote DR site, and
sending teams of people representing dif-
