INTERCEP Business Resilience Roundtables

The following is from one of our recent press releases:

The president of New Jersey based Contingency Solutions, LLC has been selected to join a small group of key stakeholders from business, industry and government to explore bottom-line impacts of preparedness and provide input on enabling resilience incentives. The recommendations of these and three other roundtables will support the formation of the new Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Certification Program, currently in development by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Title IX of the “Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007″ (Public Law 110-53), which was signed into law by the President on August 3, 2007, calls for a new voluntary certification program for business emergency preparedness. The program will be administered by an independent third party organization, ANAB (ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board) and The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and will focus on all-hazards preparedness as reflected in one or more of the existing preparedness standards.

Mr. Oppenheim, a nationally recognized expert on business continuity planning and disaster preparedness, has been asked to contribute to the roundtables on Insurance & Resilience and Corporate Ratings & Resilience.

“Eight years have passed since the horrific events of 9/11 and four since Hurricane Katrina. For many businesses, these catastrophes were wake-up calls to prepare for a disaster. Many heeded the call. Unfortunately, as time passes, people become complacent. Existing plans age and become ineffective while others are still unaware of the importance of proper preparedness and it’s the small flood, fire or power failure that will shut them down. This certification program is exactly what we need to focus business on the need to prepare,” Mr. Oppenheim said.

Mr. Oppenheim has over 20 years of risk management and business continuity experience. Throughout his career, he has provided mitigation and resiliency services to corporations, government entities and non-profit organizations. He holds numerous certifications in emergency planning and is a vetted member of the FBI’s Infragard program for the protection of the National infrastructure.

I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions on what we should include in the new certification process!

Is Your Business a Dinosaur?

It’s not often that I get to blog about two of my favorite subjects in the same posting. The first is, of course, disaster preparedness and business continuity planning. The second is, as some of you may know, my love of astronomy. In fact, in my spare time I am the author of The Telescope Travelers series of adventure novels for young readers. This brings me to today’s topic:  what do both your business and dinosaurs have in common?

If you said extinction or its potential you are partly correct. Now would be the obvious time for me to launch into a long-winded explanation of how, if not prepared for disaster and lacking the ability to adapt to a radically changed environment, your business could rapidly cease to exist but I am not going to do that because I have a much more concrete, or should I say rock solid, example to cite.

Can you remember what you were doing at 8:44 am EST on March 2, 2009?  It was a Monday morning not unlike most Monday mornings. Perhaps you were at your desk opening e-mails and sifting through the weekend’s spam accumulation. Or maybe you were stuck in rush-hour traffic worrying about that nine o’clock appointment. In all likelihood you were totally unaware that at that moment a newly discovered asteroid was making its closest approach to Earth.  The asteroid is called 2009 DD45 and was only discovered three days before as it approached the planet.  While there was never any danger that it would hit Earth, it passed within 47,000 miles. That’s only twice the height of some communications satellites and about 1/5^th the distance to the Moon.  Scientists call it a near-miss (shouldn’t it be a near-hit?).

Had this asteroid actually hit the Earth many astronomers believe that it would have had the force of a nuclear blast. The catastrophic effects would stretch far beyond the impact region and last years into the future affecting travel, trade, global weather and the global economy (as if we needed another problem with that). Too far out? In March 2004, asteroid 2004 FU162 grazed Earth, passing within 4000 miles and entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Last year, asteroid 2008 TC3 burned up in the atmosphere over Africa with only 6 hours of warning. Some asteroids and comets haven’t been discovered until after they passed the planet!

Now I’m sure there is a Chicken Little analogy in here somewhere and I’m not suggesting that your business prepare for a strike by an asteroid, comet or piece of space debris, but not taking reasonable steps to prepare for an interruption is akin to the behavior of the dinosaurs who simply went about their day as disaster approached and ultimately changed their (and our) world forever.

Don’t operate your business like a dinosaur. While you may not be able to guard against the impact of an asteroid, every organization can and should prepare for the more likely every day disruptions like floods, power failures, fires, loss of key personnel or computer meltdowns. As many as 40% of all companies that suffer a disaster become extinct within the first few years. Don’t let yours go the way of the dinosaur. Develop or update your business continuity plan today!  Contingency Solutions can help.

Keep That Resolution!

The parties have ended and the revelry has died down. Many of us have made New Year’s resolutions in an effort to make this year a little better than last year. With best intentions we vowed to exercise more, eat smarter, spend more time with family or clean out the garage enough to get at least one car inside. All of these are noble and important goals worthy of our efforts. We view these things as important, yet left undone. We hope that by making these affirmations of our good intentions we will be able to find the time, strength or resources to finally make them happen. Many of us will be successful in fulfilling our goals despite the inevitable struggle. But more often than not, our best intentions are sidetracked by the priority of the moment. Every day has them. Whether small or large, they appear in front of you and set your progress back a notch. By February or March many concede that their resolution may simply be unattainable.

One resolution that is attainable and shouldn’t be ignored is how to keep your business alive when an interruption strikes. Many clients voice their intent to finally develop their business continuity plan or audit and update an existing one. Most are successful in this goal. But if you are one of those that haven’t yet made the commitment, ask yourself what you would do if your building lost electricity, gas or water? What if a fire down the street prevented you, your employees and clients from getting to your building? Do you have a plan to continue operating when the roof, or a pipe leaks and floods your data center? How much will you lose if your business is closed for one day, a week or more?

It’s not too late to make a new resolution for 2009. Resolve to create or update your business continuity and disaster recovery plan. Unlike some of your other New Year’s resolutions, this one is easier to achieve and less costly than you might think. Contingency Solutions can help you through the process, from identifying the threats to your business’s survival, prioritizing your critical processes and dependencies and developing a plan to assure that your operations won’t skip a beat. Start with a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and let us give you an understanding of your exposures, the likelihood of a disruption and the affect it can have on your business.

Call Contingency Solutions today at: 1-888-82-Ready or email peter@contingencysolutions.net for a free consultation. We may not be able to help you eat smarter or cleanout that garage, but we can help assure that your business will still be here the day after a crisis.

BCP: It’s Not Just for IT Anymore!

Back in the ‘70’s, the wizards of Madison Avenue came up with a slogan to sell more orange juice: “It’s not just for breakfast anymore.” It was so effective, many of us still remember it today. My hope is that by rephrasing this sentiment, business leaders will realize and remember that BCP is not just IT’s responsibility anymore. In fact, it never was.

Too often I find that BCP is exclusively associated with technology. This doesn’t come as a surprise with today’s dependence on email, data, cell phones and the ever-addictive BlackBerry. The Y2K “crisis” didn’t help matters and the daily onslaught of malicious spam and virus warnings has made us paranoid of opening attachments for fear of unleashing a demon that will render our PC as useful as a boat anchor.

Now don’t get me wrong – as has been said, “Just because you’re paranoid it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” The threat to technology is definitely there and growing and it must be a significant part of any BCP, but let’s not lose site of protecting your other critical assets: people, structures, vehicles, manufacturing equipment, etc. Not much can happen on the loading dock if the forklift or its licensed operator isn’t working. These vital components of your business deserve and require inclusion in any emergency response and continuity of operations strategy.

Un  Unfortunately, many companies have delegated the task of developing and maintaining their BCP to the IT Department. I’ll be the first to agree that they are essential to the process, but IT professionals rarely know much about personnel, facilities or manufacturing. You wouldn’t ask an anesthesiologist to plan and perform surgery, but you definitely want them on the operating room team!

A    Always consider the other aspects and assets of your business when developing your BCP. Be sure that representatives of all major departments are part of the team and look beyond IT for vital elements of your operation.

September was National Preparedness Month!

Did you notice?

Unless we get the day off from work, most of us don’t pay much attention to new holidays declared by the government. So-called “Hallmark Holidays” such as National Doctors’ Day, National Clergy Appreciation Day, and Sweetest Day just don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve.

Then there are occasions so special, we are given a week to celebrate: National Cartoon Arts Appreciation Week, National Bladder Health Week and International Pickle Week.

A rare few achieve “Month” status: National Soy Foods Month, National Good Car Keeping Month and National Mine Month.

I know what you’re thinking and you would be justified if you cynically concluded that there was some organization behind each holiday trying to sell you something. Now, I’m in favor of good bladder health as much as the next person, but with these ubiquitous commemorations competing for our attention, observance, and dollars, it’s not surprising that many people didn’t notice National Preparedness Month. The good news is it’s not too late to “celebrate.”

Contingency Solutions was a proud 2008 National Preparedness Month Coalition Member and I can assure you that this is not a plot by the Duct Tape Manufacturers’ Association to get you to stock up on the sticky gray miracle.

Instead, it’s an effort to raise awareness about being prepared and reminding you to take action. Practice a home evacuation drill with your family; restock your first aid kits or fire extinguishers. Test your company’s business continuity plan (or develop one). Test emergency lighting and improve your data backup strategy. There’s enough to keep you celebrating all year!

W But whatever you do, please don’t consider National Preparedness Month or the days to come a time to do nothing. That’s reserved for January 16^th, National Nothing Day.

Welcome!

Welcome to Contingency Solutions, LLC’s Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery blog.  We’ll be discussing any and all things business continuity, disaster recovery, emergency preparedness and risk management.

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