Business Continuity - An Overview

By Sam Neal

An Introduction to Business Continuity

Business continuity planning, encompassing disaster recovery, minimises the impact of an incident on an organisation by ensuring alternate processes are in place for key operational functions. Business continuity planning looks to preserve assets as well as an organisation's ability to achieve its mission, retain acceptable levels of productivity, customer service, and ultimately to stay in business.

Can an organisation be too small for business continuity planning? Business continuity planning is not consigned to large organisations; any provider of a service or product, whether it is financial, manufacturing, distribution or sales, is equally exposed to the effects of a disaster. Are you prepared if something goes wrong?

Surely a business continuity plan is not needed if adequate insurance is in place?

Quite simply insurance does not buy back lost business, it only provides money. If this is not received immediately it could adversely affect cash flow, subsequent profits and client goodwill. Studies suggest that typically only 60% of actual losses are covered. Could your organisation survive the loss? Disaster does not just occur following an incident on a grand scale. A small incident, over a short period, impacting a key process, could severely disrupt an organisation; for example, an incident in the local area that requires evacuation of the premises for hours or even days. Computers still run, phones still work and infrastructure is unharmed but there is no access to any of it until the incident is resolved. Interruption threats come from multiple sources; some more likely than others. Premises may be substantially flooded, destroying servers, or an organisation may be the victim of theft. A business continuity plan examines the likelihood of this happening and considers a response relative to the risk.

It is vital to determine what would be addressed first following an incident. Who would be contacted first? How would staff be notified? To do this you need to examine your organisation, its people, its critical processes and how these are dependent upon considerations such as IT and infrastructure support, internal dependencies and suppliers.

Incident containment and recovery solutions are numerous and varied. If a flood for example, prevented access to your premises, could client service levels continue uninterrupted? The chance of this happening would be greatly increased by your staff logging in from home until full recovery is achieved. Without plans such as this in place how can you convey a level of operational confidence to your clients?

There are many factors and aspects of business continuity. It is important to be realistic and think sensibly about how your organisation would cope with a disruptive incident. Business continuity is about mitigating the impact of this incident by minimising financial losses and protecting your organisation's reputation.

The solutions are not just quick fixes but long-term considerations. It is possible to survive an incident, but not necessarily possible to recover from the long term impact.

Where do I start?

Business continuity concerns each and every organisation. Business systems must be resilient. If business continuity planning fails, so does that of an organisations clients. Not being able to access data, emails, and premises, or even make a phone call all have the potential to damage a business - and that is only the start. A second reason why business continuity is vital is that organisations expect IT support on demand. A business should commit to investment in failover systems in multiple locations, home working and standby power generation on-site, this way directors can be confident that a robust set of business continuity contingencies will be there.

The following pages highlight some key areas of IT business continuity that an organisation should consider. Business continuity is a huge area and this is by no means a definitive guide. What this section will hopefully do is stimulate thoughts and further questions about how you can implement cost-effective IT business continuity plans.

What options are there?

IT business continuity planning needs to address both the hardware and data contained within the system. This section highlights some of the ways you can build protection around your system. It is essential to ensure comprehensive planning is in place by using highly resilient servers, secondary power supplies, dual Internet connections, redundant storage and uninterruptable power supplies. As well as this it is recomended that companies use thin client technologies, such as Citrix and Microsoft® Terminal Services, for remote access, and virtual servers to provide both flexibility and resilience.

Resilience

You can build a lot of resilience into your IT system hardware. The aim when creating a resilient system is to remove any single point of failure. Hard disks used to store your applications and data are a likely point of failure, making them an area of risk and a key place in which to build resilience. You can build storage resilience by using a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). By using RAID your system can lose a hard disk and still function without interruption, giving you time to replace the failed disk.

Another way to build resilience is to address the potential failure of power supplies. IT systems prefer clean power supplies; power outages or even dirty power can cause serious problems. You can build resilience into your servers by having hotspare power supplies receiving power from different sources. This way, if one source fails the other continues whilst the failed supply is fixed. As a minimum you should have all your servers on Uninterruptable Power Supplies or UPSs as they are more commonly referred to. UPSs continually clean and smooth the spikes out of power that is provided. In the event of a power outage UPSs keep servers running long enough to safely close them down or switch to an alternative power supply. If you cannot afford to have servers down, then you need to consider alternative power supplies like standby generators that kick in automatically if they detect a power outage.

Using more than one Internet Service Provider (ISP) builds added resilience into your communications infrastructure. If one communication link fails, the other can take over. However, just having different ISPs providing broadband connections is not always enough. A further consideration should be to ensure your links to the Internet do not use the same means of connection. ISPs often use the same cable and exchange, meaning that should there be a problem between your office and the exchange, it is likely you will lose both connections. To avoid this it is recomended implementing an alternative method of connecting to the Internet such as a radio link.

Virtual Servers

Up until recently servers were built and optimised for the hardware and operating system they were running on. Now with the availability of more powerful hardware these physical servers can host multiple operating systems. Each hosted operating system is known as a virtual server. These virtual servers run their own operating systems independently of the host and the other virtual servers. Because they are no longer dependant on the hardware they are running on, it is now very easy to transfer or replicate a virtual server from one physical host to another dissimilar physical host. For business continuity purposes, restoring a server onto dissimilar hardware is a long and complicated process, but with virtual servers the process is far easier and takes a lot less time due to their hardware independence.

Another advantage of virtual servers is that it is possible to run more than one virtual server on a physical host server, thus taking advantage of any spare processing capacity on the server. Also, in a business continuity scenario it is possible to have a few powerful physical servers hosting a number of virtual servers at a remote location, be it a branch office or a hosting centre. Virtual servers can be easily replicated or restored onto these hosts at the other location ready to be enabled in the case of a business continuity scenario.

Thin Clients

For a number of years now it has been possible to access systems remotely as if you were sitting at your computer in the office. Typically you would have a Citrix server, or servers, hosting thin client sessions for each of your users. Users might be sitting in the head office, at a branch or even at home, and can access a server via the Internet. Thin clients offer great advantages in business continuity planning; for example if Citrix servers were used at both the office and the branch office or hosting centre and an incident occurred it would be easy to redirect Citrix thin client sessions to the other Citrix server. This would allow the workforce to carry on working unaffected by the incident.

Replication

In order to reduce the time it takes to recover a server or data, replication should be considered. There are a number of different ways of replicating servers and data to other storage devices or servers. By using other storage devices data still has to be recovered. However, if data is replicated to other standby servers it is simply a case of enabling the servers, meaning you can be up and running again quickly using a recent copy of your data. Ideally these standby servers, with the replicated data on them, would be housed at a different location, be it a branch office or a hosting centre.

What about my data?

Having considered your hardware, you also need to address the challenge of protecting your data. Both traditional solutions and new emerging technologies play a key role in comprehensive data protection.

To ensure internal data is protected it is desirable to have implemented a series of solutions. In addition to traditional tape backups many organisations have implemented technology such as Microsoft® System Centre Data Protection Manager (DPM). Due to the massive business benefits DPM offers, it is considered it a key part of any comprehensive business continuity plan.

Traditional Tape Backup

Tapes have traditionally been the most widely used form of backing up data on an IT system. During off-peak hours, the system is backed up to tape. Tapes should then be checked to see if the process has been successful and then taken off-site. This off-site location ensures protection of the data should an incident such as a fire occur.

Backup tapes are a great form of cost-effective backup, but it is important to be aware of associated limitations. A large amount of data can be backed up onto one tape with the process typically being performed out of hours. This in itself might not suit some companies as off-peak hours are less common due to flexible working. Because of the way data is backed up onto tape, recovery times can be quite lengthy as the data has to be located on the tape before it can be restored. In addition, if an incident occurs at the end of the working day, the recovery point back to the last backup would be the night before, meaning that you could lose an entire day's work.

Continuous Data Protection

Continuous data protection is a solution where, as the name suggests, a system's data is continually being backed up. This removes the issues associated with traditional tape backups in that downtime is not necessary as your data is being backed up continuously as changes are made. In order to enable this type of solution, adequate disk storage is required to store the most recent revised data. A snapshot of this data can then be taken periodically; for example daily, and the snapshots can be backed up to tape for longer term storage at your leisure.

Microsoft® System Centre Data Protection Manager (DPM) is a solution based on near continuous data protection.

DPM constantly monitors protected servers and only copies changes saved to the protected server to a DPM server. A major advantage of only bringing the changes across is the significantly reduced bandwidth required to protect the server. Because of this reduced bandwidth it is possible to protect servers in branch offices across a wide area network. DPM is also Microsoft® application aware, meaning that it is compatible with applications such as Microsoft® Exchange and Microsoft® SQL and can therefore protect these accordingly. By using snapshots and by being application aware, DPM can restore Exchange or SQL to within the last 15 minutes. It can also provide up to 512 recovery points by creating periodic snapshots. Snapshots can be created as often as every half hour if required but typically they are created at least once a day. Performing one snapshot a day and capturing changes every 15 minutes means you could have nearly 50,000 recovery points and potentially be able to recover data to any 15 minute point in time over the past year and a half. Realistically though you would normally have two weeks' to a month's data on disk and then offload this to tape for long term protection. DPM has been written with ease of use as a priority. Unlike recovering items from traditional tape backups it is very easy to use the DPM console to find the item you wish to recover, view all its potential recovery points and then recover it to its original location or copy it to a new location. This process takes far less time than it would to recover information from tape. If enabled, it is even possible for users to view previous versions of files and recover them without having to involve their IT departments

Another factor DPM addresses is human error. Traditional tape backups require someone to check the previous night's backup and swap the tapes. Quite often it is assumed that last night's backup happened without any problems and the tapes are duly swapped. If for some reason the backup failed and no one noticed, the tape would be useless. DPM can back up from itself to another DPM server in another location, across the Internet or a wide area network. This can happen automatically and does not require human intervention. Using this method an off-site copy of the system is automatically provided each day. Though tape backups are still recommended for longer term storage, this automatic backup reduces the need to rely solely on them.

In the event of a major incident at your main site, data on your second DPM server can be quickly and easily restored onto alternative servers meaning that you could be up and running quickly. Combine this with virtual servers and thin clients and you have a very cost-effective business continuity plan.

IT support & software reseller JMC is an IT & Communications company based in Manchester, UK. They are a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner & Pegasus Strategic Partner and specialise in business solutions for organisations of any size including some of the biggest sporting organisations in the world. They offer a complete range of tailorable IT products including Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and Pegasus Opera II.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Neal

Asteroid 2010 GA6 Will Pass Close to Earth Today

Last year I did a significant post on a near miss of earth by an asteroid that occurred on March 2, 2009. Today another recently discovered asteroid measuring approximately 71 feet across will pass close to the earth. The asteroid named 2010 GA6 will pass within 223,000 miles of earth and will be 16,000 miles closer to us than the moon. The event will occur approximately at 4:00 pm PST.

This past January another asteroid passed within 76,000 miles of earth as well.

Though it should pass safely the discovery of the number of asteroids passing near the earth is on the rise due to more time, techniques and research being devoted to their discovery.

Referred to NEO's (Near Earth Objects) there are a number of groups and people concerned with this external threat that these objects present. One of the most notable organizations involved in this area is The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Committee on Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

The ASE-NEO committee is dedicated to raising awareness of this issue and in efforts to get the international community to protect the Earth from future asteroid impacts.

Another interesting group which I have only become recently aware of through some brief communications with Rusty Schweickart is the B612 Foundation. The goal of the B612 Foundation is to find a method for significantly altering the orbit of an asteroid so that it does not impact the earth. They plan on doing this by 2015.

Interestingly enough Rusty Schweickart and I are planning on getting together sometime in the next moth or two to discuss this very issue. I'll keep you posted as to what occurs and how I become involved more with this issue over the next several months.

Disaster Tip of the Week: Preparedness Considerations for People with Disabilities and Special Needs

Photo by: exfordy 

Like everyone else, people with disabilities and special needs need to prepare for disasters and the unexpected at home and in the work place. While the basic needs are the same as most individuals there will be some obvious differences depending on the needs of that specific person. 

In the corporate world as I have worked as a consultant and spoken to others on this issue the preparedness level runs across an entire spectrum from the excellent, where people volunteer to help those with special needs to help them evacuate, to the legally questionable, "those people are on their own" attitude.

While I will not be addressing any of the workplace issues here, it is important to know that people with special needs, should be incorporated into your disaster planning. What I will be doing here is providing some basic advice for those with disabilities and special needs and for their family members who may also have concerns about preparedness issues.

First since everyone can start with the same basic preparedness needs here is an excellent checklist you can use for your emergency preparedness kit from Ready.gov It is in PDF format so it is easy for you to download and print out.

Next, start with the individual needs of the person, do they require more water? Odds are, they will for hygiene and sanitary purposes. Do they have special dietary needs, feeding tubes? These will require you to stock some extra items for these people in case of an emergency. People who take insulin which requires refrigeration also have concerns about power. These are just some small examples to get you thinking about deferent needs.

Here is a list from ready.gov which is quite useful to help you get started in planning for persons with disabilities:

• Create a support network to help in an emergency.
• Tell these people where you keep your emergency supplies.
• Give one member of your support network a key to your house or apartment.
• Contact your city or county government's emergency information management office. Many local offices keep lists of people with disabilities so they can be located quickly in a sudden emergency.
• Wear medical alert tags or bracelets to help identify your disability.
• If you are dependent on dialysis or other life sustaining treatment, know the location and availability of more than one facility.
• Show others how to operate your wheelchair.
• Know the size and weight of your wheelchair, in addition to whether or not it is collapsible, in case it has to be transported.

• Encourage electronic payments for federal benefit recipients. Keep in mind a disaster can disrupt mail service for days or even weeks. For those who depend on the mail for their Social Security benefits, a difficult situation can become worse if they are evacuated or lose their mail service – as 85,000 check recipients learned after Hurricane Katrina. Switching to electronic payments is one simple, significant way people can protect themselves financially before disaster strikes. It also eliminates the risk of stolen checks.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury recommends two safer ways to get federal benefits:

• • Direct deposit to a checking or savings account is the best option for people with bank accounts. Federal benefit recipients can sign up by calling (800) 333-1795 or at www.GoDirect.org.
  • The Direct Express® prepaid debit card is designed as a safe and easy alternative to paper checks for people who don’t have a bank account. Sign up is easy – call toll-free at (877) 212-9991 or sign up online at www.USDirectExpress.com.

  Signing up for direct deposit or the Direct Express card is a simple but important step that can help protect your family’s access to funds in case the unthinkable were to happen. If you or those close to you are still receiving Social Security or other federal benefits by check, please consider switching to one of these safer, easier options today.

• Additional Supplies for People with Disabilities:
  • Prescription medicines, list of medications including dosage, list of any allergies.
  • Extra eyeglasses and hearing-aid batteries.
  • Extra wheelchair batteries, oxygen.
  • Keep a list of the style and serial number of medical devices.
  • Medical insurance and Medicare cards.
  • List of doctors, relatives or friends who should be notified if you are hurt.

Be sure to visit the website Disability Preparedness from DHS for more information and resources.

One last note if you have family at home on an important life sustaining device that requires power at all times make sure you communicate that with your local power provider. Once they know that you have someone in your home that is a high priority and that you need power returned ASAP when it is out they will work with you to restore your power quickly. They will try when possible to keep power running to your home in many cases when servicing the area, and may even provide additional assistance in some cases by providing a generator (though not all may do so). You also can often get a direct number to someone in the office as an emergency contact as well. If this is a real concern for you I also would recommend having your own generator ready to go at all times. 

Earthquake Safety -- What to do Before, During and After an Earthquake

I'm frequently asked what you should do during an earthquake, and after the yesterdays (April 4, 2010) 7.2 Earthquake in Baja California, Mexico my in box gets flooded with requests on what is best and requests for posts on earthquake safety goes up.

Though I have posted Earthquake Tips before it is buried in a hard to find place, so to please my readers and those concerned here are some recent and up to date Earthquake Tips.

Here are some USGS Earthquake Preparedness FAQ's

NOTE: These tips are directly from FEMA

What to Do Before an Earthquake

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Repairing deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations, anchoring overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling, and following local seismic building standards, will help reduce the impact of earthquakes.

Six Ways to Plan Ahead

1. Check for Hazards in the Home
   • Fasten shelves securely to walls.
   • Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves.
   • Store breakable items such as bottled foods, glass, and china in low, closed cabinets with latches.
   • Hang heavy items such as pictures and mirrors away from beds, couches, and anywhere people sit.
   • Brace overhead light fixtures.
   • Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections. These are potential fire risks.
   • Secure a water heater by strapping it to the wall studs and bolting it to the floor.
   • Repair any deep cracks in ceilings or foundations. Get expert advice if there are signs of structural defects.
   • Store weed killers, pesticides, and flammable products securely in closed cabinets with latches and on bottom shelves.
     
     
2. Identify Safe Places Indoors and Outdoors
   • Under sturdy furniture such as a heavy desk or table.
   • Against an inside wall.
   • Away from where glass could shatter around windows, mirrors, pictures, or where heavy bookcases or other heavy furniture could fall over.
   • In the open, away from buildings, trees, telephone and electrical lines, overpasses, or elevated expressways.
     
     
3. Educate Yourself and Family Members
   • Contact your local emergency management office or American Red Cross chapter for more information on earthquakes. Also read the "How-To Series" for information on how to protect your property from earthquakes.
   • Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1, police, or fire department and which radio station to tune to for emergency information.
   • Teach all family members how and when to turn off gas, electricity, and water.
     
     
4. Have Disaster Supplies on Hand
   • Flashlight and extra batteries.
   • Portable battery-operated radio and extra batteries.
   • First aid kit and manual.
   • Emergency food and water.
   • Nonelectric can opener.
   • Essential medicines.
   • Cash and credit cards.
   • Sturdy shoes.
     
     
5. Develop an Emergency Communication Plan
   • In case family members are separated from one another during an earthquake (a real possibility during the day when adults are at work and children are at school), develop a plan for reuniting after the disaster.
   • Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as the "family contact." After a disaster, it's often easier to call long distance. Make sure everyone in the family knows the name, address, and phone number of the contact person.
     
     
6. Help Your Community Get Ready
   • Publish a special section in your local newspaper with emergency information on earthquakes. Localize the information by printing the phone numbers of local emergency services offices, the American Red Cross, and hospitals.
   • Conduct a week-long series on locating hazards in the home.
   • Work with local emergency services and American Red Cross officials to prepare special reports for people with mobility impairments on what to do during an earthquake.
   • Provide tips on conducting earthquake drills in the home.
   • Interview representatives of the gas, electric, and water companies about shutting off utilities.
   • Work together in your community to apply your knowledge to building codes, retrofitting programs, hazard hunts, and neighborhood and family emergency plans.

What to Do During an Earthquake

Stay as safe as possible during an earthquake. Be aware that some earthquakes are actually foreshocks and a larger earthquake might occur. Minimize your movements to a few steps to a nearby safe place and if you are indoors, stay there until the shaking has stopped and you are sure exiting is safe.

If indoors

• DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.
• Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
• Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
• Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.
• Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.
• Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.
• DO NOT use the elevators.

If outdoors

• Stay there.
• Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.
• Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits and alongside exterior walls. Many of the 120 fatalities from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred when people ran outside of buildings only to be killed by falling debris from collapsing walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.

If in a moving vehicle

• Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires.
• Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped. Avoid roads, bridges, or ramps that might have been damaged by the earthquake.

If trapped under debris

• Do not light a match.
• Do not move about or kick up dust.
• Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
• Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.

What to Do After an Earthquake

• Expect aftershocks. These secondary shockwaves are usually less violent than the main quake but can be strong enough to do additional damage to weakened structures and can occur in the first hours, days, weeks, or even months after the quake.
  
  
• Listen to a battery-operated radio or television. Listen for the latest emergency information.
  
  
• Use the telephone only for emergency calls.
  
  
• Open cabinets cautiously. Beware of objects that can fall off shelves.
  
  
• Stay away from damaged areas. Stay away unless your assistance has been specifically requested by police, fire, or relief organizations. Return home only when authorities say it is safe.
  
  
• Be aware of possible tsunamis if you live in coastal areas. These are also known as seismic sea waves (mistakenly called "tidal waves"). When local authorities issue a tsunami warning, assume that a series of dangerous waves is on the way. Stay away from the beach.
  
  
• Help injured or trapped persons. Remember to help your neighbors who may require special assistance such as infants, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Give first aid where appropriate. Do not move seriously injured persons unless they are in immediate danger of further injury. Call for help.
  
  
• Clean up spilled medicines, bleaches, gasoline or other flammable liquids immediately. Leave the area if you smell gas or fumes from other chemicals.
  
  
• Inspect the entire length of chimneys for damage. Unnoticed damage could lead to a fire.
  
  
• Inspect utilities.
  
  • Check for gas leaks. If you smell gas or hear blowing or hissing noise, open a window and quickly leave the building. Turn off the gas at the outside main valve if you can and call the gas company from a neighbor's home. If you turn off the gas for any reason, it must be turned back on by a professional.
    
    
  • Look for electrical system damage. If you see sparks or broken or frayed wires, or if you smell hot insulation, turn off the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker. If you have to step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker, call an electrician first for advice.
    
    
  • Check for sewage and water lines damage. If you suspect sewage lines are damaged, avoid using the toilets and call a plumber. If water pipes are damaged, contact the water company and avoid using water from the tap. You can obtain safe water by melting ice cubes.

More information for further reading:

Southern California

Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country (read online)

Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country (PDF Download)

Request Free Copies of Handbook

Enchando Raíces en Tierra de Terremotos (Leer en español)

Echando Raíces en Tierra de Terremotos (PDF)

Solicite una copia impresa en español

San Francisco Bay Area Region

Putting Down Roots in EarthQuake Country Bay Area Version

Protecting Your Family From Earthquakes - Spanish and English Version

Protecting Your Family From Earthquakes - English, Chineese, Vietnamese, and Korean Version

Living on Shaky Ground: How to Survive Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Northern California

Business

7 Steps to an Earthquake Resilient Business

Now you can listen to our Podcast on Earthquake Safety

Disaster Tip of the Week: Still Not Sure on How To Prepare? Learn the Basics

When it comes to preparing for a disaster many people are not sure where to begin. In fact I often hear from many people that they are overwhelmed so they just don't do it.

Well it doesn't have to be so complex and you can get started with just the basics. Just watch this 3 minute video from the Ready.gov campaign and you will quickly learn the basics you need to prepare.