Category: Disaster Recovery

5 Business Continuity Myths – Legends, Lies & Anachronisms

For more than two decades, products, services and generally accepted practices have been in a nearly constant state of change.  Gone are telegrams, analog phones, mid-range computers, pagers, secretaries, and standing in line to get a boarding pass.  Yet some still cling to technologies, products and practices long after their…

Asset-Centric BCM – How do You Plan?

The world grows more complex every day.  New technologies, global competition, instant communications; every new opportunity presents new risks.  Yet countless BCM planners follow “Loss of” scenarios for their Plans. I know from experience that many BCM professionals understand those “loss of” planning templates may not be good enough, yet…

The Myth of Outsourcing BCM

Outsourcing (paying another company to do some portion of work your own company doesn’t want to, or can’t do itself) can be a tricky proposition.  It may make sense when another company already has expertise, experience and capacity to perform tasks you need to add or expand.  It may also…

Don’t Test BC Plans – Exercise Them!

For all our supposed ‘maturity’, the Business Continuity industry can’t agree on some of the simplest things – like terminology.  When it comes to proving the worth of BC and ITDR plans, getting the terminology right should be easy.  Do you test – or do you exercise? There’s a simple…

Resiliency and the New Normal

The term “Resiliency” has become commonplace in discussions about Business Continuity Management (BCM).  Resiliency is often portrayed as the goal of BCM.  But Resiliency is usually ill-defined.  It means one thing to the CIO, but may mean something quite different to the CRO. If Resiliency is the “new normal” (as…

If Not BIA Survey, What? (Part 2)

Part 1 of this article suggested that today’s BIA Survey is overused, over-stuffed, over-valued and usually overwhelming.  Instead, the article advocated a solid starting point, narrowed objectives and easily quantifiable goals. The survey itself is a process fraught with problems.  An earlier blog dealt with many of those problems (subjectivity,…

The Myth of Resources Required Over Time

In many organizations, buried somewhere in their Business Impact Analysis (BIA), is a form asking participants to designate what Resources (computers, phones, printers – even desks and chairs) they will require if their normal business operations are disrupted. That sounds like a reasonable request.  For years the concept of Resources-over-Time…

If Not a BIA Survey, What? (Part 1)

Some time ago eBRP posted a blog article I chose to call “The BIA Survey: an Effort in Futility” I’ve been asked why I haven’t published a follow-up article (as the original implied).  It’s less lack of inertia and more a wish to avoid controversy.  Not everyone agreed with my…

The Myth of Departmental Continuity Plans

Since the early days of Business Continuity Planning, many organizations have chosen to focus efforts on “Worst Case” and “Hole-in-the-ground” scenario planning, and Departmental Continuity Plans.  The value of Departmental Continuity Plans is a myth. Planning for an artificial, organizational construct ‘the Department’ shifts emphasis from the real reason BCM…

5 Reasons BCM programs Fall short, Flounder or Fail

After more than 20-some years of analysis and observation of BCM programs, patterns have emerged.  Some programs have been very successful, while some never quite achieved much – and others withered away.  From those observations, here are 5 common, very simple reasons why too many BCM programs fail to prosper. …