Opportunity or Obligation?

By Khali Henderson

Hurricane Dolly, a tropical cyclone that hit Southern Texas last week is a tragic reminder of the need to consider disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

The tropical storm made its way from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Gulf of Mexico, leaving nearly 20 dead in its wake. It hit South Padre Island, Texas, July 23. The storm caused no deaths in Texas, but caused an estimated $1.2 billion dollars in damage and left thousands without power.

Unfortunately, this storm was not an isolated incident. Dolly was the fourth tropical cyclone and second hurricane to form during the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.

To add even greater perspective, in 2007, there were 399 natural disasters impacting nearly 200 million people across the globe and with an economic impact of more than $60 billion dollars, according to the 2008 Edwards Disaster Recovery Directory.

Overall, business continuity planning was seen as a priority by seven of 10 IT executives, according to the 2008 AT&T Business Continuity Study. Four of 10 indicated it had always been a priority for their business, and more than a quarter indicated it has become a priority in recent years because of heightened awareness of natural disasters, security and terrorist threats.

Nonetheless, 28 percent said business continuity planning was “not a priority”. While 80 percent indicated their companies had a business continuity plan, one-fifth (18 percent) said they did not.

The majority (79 percent) of companies have instituted special arrangements for communicating with key executives during a natural disaster. A similar proportion have e-mail or text messaging capabilities to reach employees outside of work, and two-thirds have systems in place that enable most employees to work from home or remote locations. Only four out of 10 companies have automated calling systems to reach employees by telephone or cell phone outside of work.

A 2007 report from In-Stat showed businesses also are increasingly interested in managed solutions for business continuity and disaster recovery. If offered, BCDR is the leading value-added application businesses would seek from a carrier in conjunction with IP VPN services. In addition, sixteen percent of the businesses currently using in-house solutions are planning to outsource their back-up and storage needs in the next 12 months, the report said. This figure is 33 percent among mid-sized businesses.

Helping companies to ensure their communications are up and running is not only an opportunity but an obligation for telecom agents and telecom service providers that are truly consultative.

Related Webinars

Satellite Broadband Services

Related Articles

Satellite Sales: An Out-of-This-World-Opportunity

Satellite Services Offer Disaster Recovery, Video Opportunities

Survey: Businesses Use Managed IT for Security, Storage, Disaster Recovery