By silicon.com, 25 October 2005 11:00
You would think most companies have built a disaster recovery plan to help them through, should the worst happen - especially given the advances in technology, the rise of the broadband users and changes in business practices.
But according to research from the London Chamber of Commerce (LCC), 55 per cent of firms have no contingency plans for a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
And on top of that most companies are failing to use the technology that enables staff to work from home.
Perhaps companies are too focused on making sure their IT systems are resilient - and forget to make sure their staff are in a position to be able to use them.
Take the example of the floods in India's capital Mumbai, where more than a few outsourcing centres are located. The floods caused people to miss work for three days or more in some cases, hitting companies' ability to provide services.
Firms need to recognise that home working can be a real bonus. There's a very obvious business case. And many staff like it too.
It's all very well having servers backed up in multiple locations but without the staff to work them, they are useless. People make a business work. Technology should support them, not the other way around.
Firms need to consider whether to invest in a model where everyone has the ability to work from home - because, remember, it's not always a catastrophe that will be your undoing. What if the trains break down?
Those companies that have explored home-working might find that, when disaster strikes, staff don't take a paid holiday but actually contribute something to an otherwise bad situation.
And in that case, something is better than nothing.
Comments
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1. anonymous
Yet another article written by someone who doesn't understand the subject !
The topic here is what would normally be put under the heading of Business Continuity - although the two are intimately linked.
But, as the article hints, many business managers simply bury their heads in the sand and hope it won't happen to them. My last employer was like that - except they got around the 'problem' by labelling it as a purely IT function and so made it someone elses problem (mine in fact !).
But shit does happen. I used to work for a smallish company run by a family - recently the whole family were killed in a plane crash whilst on holiday. Totally unexpected, but it leaves a number of businesses with gaps to try and fill.
2. Richard
Try telling HR!
I used to work for a large (now bankrupt) UK company.
On one particular occasion when bad weather was forecast for the next day, I took work home.
Next day, local roads were lethal: They had not been cleared, salted or gritted: Authorities broadcast warnings that all non-essential travel should be cancelled.
I had no appointments or meetings planned so phoned the company and then started the work I'd brought home.
Next day, I received a written warning from HR for being absent from my desk!
Where do they find these HR people?