In kicking off our corporate blog, I was advised to stay focused and pick a narrow, well-defined topic. So, I took the advice to heart and want to share some thoughts about… Business Continuance.
Yup, Business Continuance. The very simple science--and some will argue, art--of being able to keep vital business operations running in the event of a failure in the existing infrastructure. I was disappointed (but hardly shocked) to read that according to a new IDG Research Services study, more than half (61 percent) of the respondents indicated they are either “not very,” “not at all” or “only somewhat” confident in their company’s preparedness for a disaster. Ouch.
And this wasn’t some list of wire-pullers… it was 215 Chief Security and Chief Information Officers! While they cited the usual excuses--lack of funding, proper skills, management funding, testing and facilities--as the causes for their despair… with all due respect, I think there’s something else here.
After all, Business Continuity is time-consuming, complicated and cross-functional in nature. So, where to begin? I’d like to suggest a two-phased approach.
How many of you have deployed new applications? Or dramatically added end-users? Or found end-users to be more demanding of service delivery? Or has your company expanded or merged or been acquired? Usually, the answer to some or all of these is “yes.” One last question: because of these changes, have you re-architected your backup architecture? Typically, the answer is “no.” So, in the short-term, focus on making sure your backups happen, that they are successful, verifiable and rock solid. If you can handle traditional backups, business continuity is a pipedream.
In parallel with Phase 1, I must introduce two important acronyms (I feel obligated to do so as I work in high-tech): RTO and RPO. Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is a great metric… essentially, how long can you wait before you’re back up and running? Recovery Point Objective (RPO) refers to how much data can you afford to lose while you’re down? Getting top managers together to discuss these points is absolutely critical, especially since it means dealing with challenging questions, such as: What is your cost of downtime? In lost revenue? In lost productivity for employees who can't get their work done? How many customers do you make mad? Or lose? What impact does this have on your reputation? You know, the stuff that keeps you up at night.
Business Continuity is a lot like corporate strategic planning… it’s necessary but often painful and is never really appreciated until something bad happens. Hopefully, this blog and subsequent postings will cut through the hype around this topic and provide valuable insights and perspectives while enabling you to pick the collective brains of the talent at Overland Storage.
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Michael Kerman
VP WW Marketing/Chief Strategy Officer