Archive for the 'Business Continuity' Category

Hurricane Irene Devastates the East Coast’s Economy

Published on September 2, 2011 in Business Continuity, Economics and Risk Management. 0 Comments Tags: .

The recent destruction of Hurricane Irene on the East Coast left many Americans underwhelmed. The carnage and destruction of Hurricane Katrina were not as present for Irene, but billions of dollars worth of damage and flooding are still wreaking havoc on the eastern seaboard. In the already sluggish economy, Irene is hitting the pocketbooks of most Americans in a serious way.

The event was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, but because of the lack of emergency infrastructure, damage was more widespread and costly than if a more devastating hurricane were to hit a prepared Florida coast. If the storm became any stronger, it could have caused serious damage to all of the glass in the Manhattan skyscrapers or cause permanent damage to all of the towns by rivers and ponds in Vermont.

Many retailers and businesses were relying on decision analytics and a busy back to school weekend in order to optimize sales. For operations such as grocery, drug, and home improvement stores; the weekend was a huge success because of the need to stock up on emergency supplies. For outlets like department stores, clothing chains, and movie theaters; the weekend was a bust because of evacuations and the fear of leaving shelter. A family was more likely to purchase something like a power generator or an emergency supply of freeze dried food rather than a new wardrobe to show off at college.

In an AP article, market researcher Ken Perkins said that the $300-500 people spend on fixing their homes would be lost to discretionary spending and could be taken back from the back to school business. With the economy already in a bad state of being, it will be even harder for most retailers to recover from missing the second biggest shopping season of the year.

For those with hurricane insurance, there claims might not cover all of the damages incurred by the storm. As reported by The Christian Science Monitor, most Americans do not participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Since most of the damage caused by Irene was through flooding and not wind, people will find a hard time getting compensation for damaged goods and property.

While the immediate impact of Hurricane Irene may seem less severe than other highly publicized natural disasters of the past; its effects will linger through the economy and infrastructure of the area for years to come.

Business Continuity Begins at Home

Published on August 8, 2011 in Business Continuity. 0 Comments Tags: .

Operational Risk and Business Continuity go hand-in-hand. The most common potential failure I have seen regarding an external event is a lack of preparedness by key personnel at the personal level. If a severe natural disaster or riots disrupt a large urban area, most organisations would fail to implement their emergency plan or be able to maintain emergency operations because the key personnel and their families are not prepared for such emergencies.

We have all heard of the proverbial “Three-day  Emergency Kit” promoted by government disaster planning organisations.  Unfortunately this limit is not realistic for most situations. The “72 hours” limit is a military standard based upon the ability of a functioning logistics establishment. Soldiers get re-supplied, but who will  re-supply you after 72 hours?

If the key personnel are not able to keep their families warm, fed, and safe with the supplies on hand, then they will not show-up to keep the company running. Planning for this type of business interruption starts with the people who will keep things running during the emergency, and that includes their families.

Recently, a client got to try-out their well-laid plans. They were very fortunate to have their emergency operations centre only about 60 miles from their normal location. They had the foresight to preposition food, shelter, and equipment. However, the after-action reports revealed some critical failures.

The first was the inadequate physical conditioning of the key personnel. Most had to walk, with their immediate families, for a maximum of 8 miles to get out of the disaster area to where transport was waiting. Communication was adequate as the company radio system remained functional to allow the transport part of the plan to work properly. However, some key personnel could not make the walk due to poor physical conditioning or poor health. The company had not even considered this factor in planning, or when selecting key personnel.

The other critical failure was an utter lack of planning or preparation on the part of the key personnel and the company did not offer any training or guidance on how to hike the distance required. None of the key staff had proper boots or clothing. None had a proper pack, DEET, bug suit, or anything else of practical value. The weather was wet, cold for the season, and the biting insects were out in force. This could have been the second disaster.

This company did many things right. They had a kitchen and 2 weeks of food. They had a former ER nurse on-site. They had emergency housing on-site. They had communications and the equipment needed to keep operating. What they didn’t have was staff. Over one-half of the key staff were unable, or unprepared, to walk to the rally point.

Asymmetric Warfare & Business Continuity

Published on June 16, 2011 in Business Continuity, Communication, Encryption, Espionage, Industrial Espionage, Intellectual Property Rights, Intelligence Services, Privacy and Risk Management. 0 Comments

In a previous article, I wrote about a system that created a single point of failure. In a strategic sense, computers and IT as a whole have become a single point of failure in both government and industry.

Chinese military leaders call automation the great equalizer, since its enemies heavily depend upon computers. An effective attack upon their enemy’s IT infrastructure provides an immediate and disproportionate impact which is the core concept of asymmetric warfare.

This asymmetry benefits the attacker, regardless of his motives or methods.

New Madrid Seismic Zone

Published on March 18, 2011 in Business Continuity and Risk Management. 0 Comments

In light of the Japanese earthquake and it devastating consequences, other developed countries should look closer to home and start planning.

One of North America’s most dangerous fault zones lies in the U.S. Midwest. The New Madrid fault line, named after the small town in southeast Missouri and covering areas of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, was responsible for several earthquakes in the early 19th century. Although several minor quakes have occurred along the New Madrid fault over the years, the last major disruption was in the 1811-1812 winter when a succession of four earthquakes over three months famously caused the Mississippi River to temporarily flow backward and had aftershocks travel as far as Boston and Toronto. These were estimated to be as large as 8.0.

In a report filed in November 2008, The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that a serious earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone could result in “the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States,” further predicting “widespread and catastrophic” damage across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and particularly Tennessee.

Two hundred years ago this area was sparsely populated, today’s population density will make such an earthquake devastating, especially since the area does not possess appropriate building codes to reduce earthquake damage.  FEMA’s poor performance after Katrina leaves only one response possible. Whether you are a private citizen or large company, begin planning and preparations now, before you need them.

The Sky is Falling

Published on March 9, 2011 in Business Continuity. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Urban Astronomer reports a trial run of the new PS1 telescope on Mount Haleakala in Hawaii found a record nineteen near-earth asteroids in its first night of use.  I just thought you should know.

Christchurch NZ Earthquake Picture

Published on March 1, 2011 in Business Continuity. 0 Comments Tags: .

Here is an amazing picture taken seconds after the Christchurch earthquake, at Imgur. Mouse-over to enlarge.

Disasters Happen

Published on January 28, 2011 in Business Continuity. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The Kroger Co. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger (NYSE:KR) is one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers, with fiscal 2009 sales of $76.7 billion. The company’s operations span many U.S. states with store formats that include grocery and multi-department stores, convenience stores and mall jewelry stores. The company also operates under nearly two dozen banners.

This savvy corporation operates a disaster  planning and preparation function within its logistics department that should put many levels of government to shame.

Cyber Warfare & Business Continuity

Published on December 3, 2010 in Business Continuity. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report for 2010 outlines an interesting event that has significant bearing on business continuity. It seems that China rerouted 15% of all the Internet traffic through Chinese servers for 18 minutes on 8 April 2010. They did this by having their servers announce that they  provided the quickest route for messages. Of course, the Chinese deny any responsibility for this.

The Chinese government is clearly experimenting with using the Internet as part of an asymmetrical warfare strategy, as are other countries. Where does this leave your business should a spate of cyberwarfare break-out? Your company operations might be located thousands of miles from any real battlefield, but a war that brings down the Internet or isolates your company from its customers could spell disaster.

Have you examined how you might maintain your relationship with customers and suppliers without the Internet? Do you have any idea what logistical and financial resources will be required to maintain those relationships? Have you identified the point where you would cease operations and seek bankruptcy protection should the Internet cease to operate?

These are uncomfortable questions, but they have to be asked. In February the former U.S. intelligence chief, told congress that the U.S. would lose a cyberwar if one broke out today. He said, “We’re the most vulnerable, we’re the most connected, we have the most to lose.” Unfortunately, the same can be said of Canada which routes much of its Internet traffic through the United States.

Business Continuity Writ Large

Published on November 12, 2010 in Business Continuity. 0 Comments Tags: .

The BBC bunker they don’t want you to know about

Buried 10 storeys into the hillside is a fully functioning nuclear bunker, built at great expense in 1966, at the height of the Cold War…

Measuring 175ft long, the bunker – known to high command as Pawn: Protected Area Wood Norton – remains ready for service in the event of an attack on London.

The Toilet Paper Shortage of 1973

Published on October 1, 2010 in Business Continuity, Communication, News Media and Survival. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

The writers for Johnny Carson heard that the U.S government was having a hard time getting bids for the supply toilet paper and that it might be possible that in a few months the United States could face a shortage of toilet tissue.  They took the words of a Wisconsin congressman who said this, Harold Froehlich, and decided to add a joke for Carson for the next evening show.

This had some far-reaching and unintended consequences. Continue reading ‘The Toilet Paper Shortage of 1973′

On Becoming a Web Worker — Gmail

Published on September 17, 2010 in Business Continuity, Methods, Security and Web Worker. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Web Worker Article Series

This is part of a series of articles about using Web-based services to get through your work day no matter where you are working — in an office, on a back road in your car, or in an airport.

Web Infrastructure & Cloud Computing

The current web infrastructure includes cloud computing which has started to change how we work and how we use the Internet.

IDC Research predicts that by 2013, 1.2 billion people (that’s about one-third of the existing global working population) will form the world’s mobile workforce.

You may have a smart phone or a Blackberry and many email addresses, but you still need one Web-accessible portal to manage your email. With a little patience and thought, you can make Google a safe haven for all your email even if you normally access it elsewhere.

Google

We all know about Google as a search engine. We all know about Gmail.  However, I am amazed at how many people fail to use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, and the other features available from a Google account.

Let’s start with creating a Google and Gmail account and look at what it can do for you.  This is the best place to start becoming a Web-Worker.  This may seem simplistic to some and rocket science to others. Continue reading ‘On Becoming a Web Worker — Gmail’

The RICE Method of Analysis

Published on June 30, 2010 in Business Continuity, Competitive Intelligence, Methods and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Use the RICE method to decide how to respond to information or intelligence:

R for reliability. The basic truthfulness or accuracy of the information you are evaluating.

I  for the importance of the data based upon its releveance

C  for the cost of your possible reactions or actions relating to the information

E  for the effectiveness of your  actions based upon this information. Would actions based upon this information solve the problems you face?

This format is useful for summarizing collected data and for analyzing how you might apply the data in a broad range of situations.

PS:

Just remember, as the old pessimist philosopher Arnold Schopenhauer stated, “The truth will set you free . . . but first it will make you miserable.”