ChannelTrends: East Coast Quake and Hurricane Stress the Need for Business Continuity Solutions

The West Coast generally gets all the attention when it comes to earthquakes, which seem to be a part of everyday life for those in California, Oregon and Washington (not to mention Alaska and Hawaii). The Gulf Coast, on the other hand, seems to be a magnet for hurricanes and tropical depressions. So it came as quite a surprise to those in the North East who got hit with both last week. A rare 5.9 earthquake struck Mineral, Va., on Tuesday, which rattled nerves and lit up Facebook with “what was that” comments as far away as Toronto and Indiana. While the damage was minimal, it was a wakeup call to many business owners who assumed all the danger from seismic activity was relegated to the West Coast.

That excitement came as most people had their eyes on Hurricane Irene, which was preparing to hit and work its way up the East Coast. The category-one storm could have been worse, but still left dozens dead and flooded a number of communities—many still waiting for the water to subside. It would be an understatement to say it wasn’t a typical week in the northeastern part of the U.S.

The double whammy shifted the focus away from the areas possessing greater natural disaster potential, demonstrating the need for well-constructed business continuity plans and solutions to be in place. I’m sure a number of companies learned a valuable lesson with last week’s events, such as not having a system in place to allow them to operate when their building and servers were underwater.

Go Beyond Data Recovery

While business continuity plans typically focus on backup and disaster recovery processes, that’s just one part of ensuring your clients are prepared for a major catastrophe. For example, can they contact and update their employees and customers when their main facilities are unavailable or destroyed? While e-mail communication is an important part of that process, phone systems (VoIP and mobility devices) also should be part of the solution.

For example, solution providers selling to the educational, government and utility markets should consider adding voice broadcast systems to their portfolios. Not only do these offerings serve as emergency response communication systems, but they also can be used to relay other community information as needed. From severe weather and evacuation warnings to local emergency shelter details, these systems address vital concerns for every community. Emergency notification services can be implemented to spread details of “Amber Alerts” and when local police need to residents to stay inside or watch for dangerous criminals.

While cloud services may not be listed as a business continuity solution, most of them could be. One of the key benefits of Web-based business applications is the ability to access them from anywhere you have Internet access. In today’s wireless world, that could give employees access to their critical systems from a hotel room in another state or the local Starbucks. With the flight cancellations on the East Coast last week, I saw a number of my Facebook friends managing their clients’ systems poolside while sipping margaritas. If that’s not a true business continuity solution, what is?

Share Personal Disaster Advice with Clients and Families

The first rule of business is to ensure everyone is safe. After all, the most important asset any company has is its people (and their families), so sharing a few steps to keep them out of harm's way is not just the right thing to do, it’s a good investment of resources.

Prior to Hurricane Irene’s trip up the East Coast, Mike Semel, VP of Business Continuity Technologies in Las Vegas and co-chair of the CompTIA Ambassador Advisory Council, shared the checklist below to help those in its path make the proper preparations. While not a part of the technology portfolio, it might be a good idea to include the information in the business continuity plans you prepare for your clients. Thanks to Mike for sharing this list:

• Family Communications Plan – write down critical cell and landline numbers in case your phone dies; know where you will meet if cell towers and landline phones go out; designate an out-of-area relative everyone should contact if they can’t reach each other.


• Cell phones – text messages use less battery and get through when calls can’t; external batteries are available to keep your cell phone powered when the internal battery dies; pack your car charger and home charger if you evacuate; extend your battery by turning off Wi-Fi and other services you aren’t using.


• Computers—back up critical data onto external hard drives, thumb drives, or online services; if you have to evacuate take critical equipment with you or seal it in garbage bags to protect against water damage.


• Water – Buy water or fill pots and pitchers with drinking water – 1 gallon per day per person; water systems may be contaminated and unsafe for drinking.


• Food – non-perishable food you don’t have to cook.


• Cash—credit cards won’t work if power and communications go down. Withdraw $ 200 – $300 so you can make purchases.


• Automobile—fill your gas tank when you first hear a warning; gas pumps won’t work if power fails.


• Evacuation – have a backpack or overnight bag with clothes, medications, sweatshirt and sweatpants; extra glasses, personal hygiene supplies; energy bars; emergency blankets (look in the camping supply areas of sporting goods or department stores); follow instructions to shut off water, gas, and electricity before you leave.


• Hand-crank weather radio – these also charge cell phones through a USB cable. Purchase one at Lowes, Home Depot, Sam’s, Costco, or Wal-Mart. Make sure the radio has SAME alerting so you will only receive alerts for your local area.


• Batteries – enough for flashlights, lanterns, radios.


• LED lanterns—no need for fuel or mantles; safer than candles; some lanterns come with removable LED flashlights.


• Common Sense – evacuate if your local government issues an order; don’t drive through flooded streets; stay away from downed wires.


• Don’t panic — keep your cool for your own safety and your family.

Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at [email protected].