25 Nov 2008
Five organisations that can help you keep disaster at bay
British Standards Institution
BS25999 is the world’s first British standard for business continuity
management. Designed by experts from industry and government, it aims to
establish the processes, principles and terminology of business continuity
management (BCM).
www.bsigroup.co.uk
Teneros Application Continuity Appliances
Teneros has introduced a range of application continuity appliances for
Microsoft Exchange 2003 and 2007 that promise a cost-effective and comprehensive
continuity solution for email in the event of a temporary or permanent failure.
The Teneros appliance maintains an ongoing backup of the Exchange mail store,
and in the event of a problem or failure, it springs to life and takes over,
ensuring no disruption to email service or functionality. Remotely managed by
Teneros, these appliances could prove useful for companies that rely heavily on
email communication to ensure the smooth running of their business.
www.teneros.com
Gematech
In the event of a crisis, communication is essential. Without it, most business
continuity plans will fail as companies lose contact with staff, suppliers and
partners. Gematech’s BCM Lite application has been designed to ensure continuity
of incoming calls by seamlessly routing them to any other number anywhere in the
world. In addition to voice and fax calls, the system is capable of re-routing
data and videoconferencing calls to other locations. Any number of business
continuity call diversion plans can be set up in advance and invoked remotely
using a secure web link.
www.gematech.
com
Troux Technologies
Troux Technologies offers software and consulting to help companies build a
disaster recovery and business continuity plan. Plugging into existing IT
architecture, Troux’s business continuity planning application automatically
links the most important business processes to the plans, locations, people and
technologies that support them. Claiming to significantly reduce operating costs
by replacing manual and high-risk business continuity and disaster recovery
tasks with automated processes, the software can assist with generating business
impact analysis and recovery plans as well as providing overall co-ordination in
the event of an emergency.
www.troux.com
F24 Crisis Communication
F24 provides a rapid, automated communication service in the event of an
emergency, ensuring that key personnel are notified immediately or warnings to
the general public issued. Within the first minute of an emergency being
declared, hundreds of people can be instantly alerted using voice, fax, text or
email, while telephone conferences are set up between designated people. No
additional hardware or software is required to use the service, only a phone
line and a computer with internet access.
www.f24.com
Five technologies that can bring peace of mind
Cloud computing
Ubiquitous access to all corporate data, applications and services, which are
seamlessly delivered to a browser, promises to be the ultimate in business
continuity – so long as access to the cloud and its hosting services is not
disrupted.
Remote datacentres
Having a remote datacentre significantly reduces the risk of severe data and
systems loss. With two or more datacentres the risks can be reduced further as
systems and data can be mirrored to provide increased resilience as well as
disaster recovery and business continuity options. Employing robust storage
solutions together with regular backup and archiving procedures, data loss and
disruption to the business is further minimised.
Thin-client technologies
Requiring no processing or storage capacity, thin-client systems are inherently
more secure and robust than traditional desktop and mobile systems. Because data
and applications remain under central control and are not resident on the
device, business continuity is much easier to manage in the event of a disaster
as local data and applications will not be compromised. The technology is easy
to set up, so new users and remote locations can be configured quickly.
Virtualisation
Virtualisation allows companies to consolidate the number of servers that they
run and streamline development and testing procedures. Because a virtual machine
is independent of the hardware it is running on, copies of these virtual
machines can be saved offsite to protect against the effects of a server
failure. While the use of virtualisation for business continuity is still in its
early stages, it has the potential to play an important, strategic part in any
business continuity strategy.
Virtual private networks
An effective business continuity strategy must include the possibility of access
to the office and office-based computer equipment being restricted or even
denied. Virtual private network (VPN) technology enables secure access to
critical applications from a remote location using an internet connection. In
the event of an emergency, remote and home workers may continue to work, gaining
access to central systems when they become available, and the VPN can be easily
configured to support other employees working from home or a temporary office
location.
Growing risk awareness and an increasingly dangerous business environment may have prompted more companies to invest in business continuity programs - but what is the practical experience behind the plans?
Few organisations have any real insight into the true extent of their IT assets as records are often incomplete or inaccurate. Not only does this challenge the validity of the business continuity solution but it also raises huge questions in the event of an insurance claim.
For most companies, one of the major issues is the complete lack of co-ordination between the asset register recorded within finance and the inventory lists used within the IT department to determine system maintenance and support.
Any inconsistency between the asset register held within finance and other inventory records in the business will raise significant doubt for insurance companies, delaying payment at best. At worst an organisation could lose any chance of an insurance pay-out, even face charges of claiming for non existent items.
There are simple processes that can be followed to ensure greater information consistency. A central repository that records the serial number and asset location, as well as the value of each item, will meet the needs of all departments from finance to IT.
Critically, this ensures that reliable, accurate information is available for both insurance and business continuity planning, reducing business risk whilst also giving companies more confidence in their business continuity investments.
Yours sincerely
Karen Conneely
Group Commercial Manager
Real Asset Management
www.realassetmgt.co.uk
Posted by: Karen Conneely 26 Nov 2008
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