Oops!  Another Lesson Learned – The Hard Way!

 If you had access to our local paper on Saturday you may have come across an article entitled “Nonprofit agency loses data to overnight theft of computers”.  It seems that four computers were stolen from this organization’s location that contained “irreplaceable data”.  The computers contained critical information that included grant information, donor lists, e-mail addresses, supporter information and promotional material.  The local paper reported that an agency spokesman indicated that they had insurance, the equipment needed to be replaced anyway, but that “it’s the data that’s irreplaceable”.  The agency spokesman went on to say from now on “we are going to make sure we back up the data.”

Although I am sorry for their loss, the above is a lesson that is often learned the hard way.  All too often someone loses their computer or computers either through theft, fire, water or simply computer hardware failure only to find out that the data that resided on the system was “irreplaceable”.   Data backup today is simple, easy and often times can be done in a hands-off type environment.  In other words – automatically, on a regularly scheduled basis, and better yet it is relatively inexpensive.  If you compare the cost of the backup, to the expense of recreating what was lost, if that’s even possible, it can truly be cost effective.

As a business continuity planner, I am still amazed that data backup doesn’t get the attention it requires, not only from small businesses, but medium and large businesses as well.  I constantly see no backup or limited backup.  In addition, some of those that do backup there data don’t give much thought to where that data is stored once it is backed up.  Some leave on it on site (Hum!), some take it home and others hand it off to someone who doesn’t have a clue about protecting or securing magnetic media.

Where do you stand on this issue?  Is your data backed-up in a timely fashion?  How often?  Where is it kept?  Do you know?   If you don’t and might be the one charged with recreating the lost data, if you can, you might just want to ask the “someone” charged with ensuring that the process is performed in a timely fashion and that the media is stored in a safe and secure location.

 

Audit Your Business Continuity Process

How comfortable are you with your business continuity planning efforts?  Does it meet regulatory expectations? Could you respond to a significant business disruption?  Does the plan ensure timely resumption of operations and processes during adverse circumstances?  Could you recover your business over time?  Does it reflect your current business operating environment?  Have you considered conducting a strategic audit of your business continuity planning process?

Someone once said “if you don’t know where you’ve been, it’s hard to figure out where you are.   If you don’t where you are, how can you decide where you want to go?  If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”  Interesting, but how does that apply to the auditing of your business continuity plan you ask?

There is great value in reviewing the road an organization has traveled to get to the place it is today as it relates to their business continuity planning process.  A best practices audit helps paint a picture of the level preparedness resident in the business continuity plan.  A clear picture of how your organizations resources have been allocated enables you to see where your assets (people, capital, facilities, and equipment) have been deployed.  If you have invested time, effort and real dollars in the business continuity planning process, by reviewing the returns associated with these investments, you will be able to make decisions with inherently more confidence and higher expectation of superior results.  In our current economy and at time of event this could make a significant difference.  Find out if the road you took to get you there was indeed the right one.

Perhaps now is the time to consider conducting an audit of your business continuity planning process?  Conducting a best practices audit will answer all the questions noted above and perhaps offer you a better night’s sleep.