The potential for large periods of absence due to the so-called “swine flu pandemic” has too many companies to ensure comprehensive pandemic planning that can reach to the customers and revenue-generating services maintained with less personnel. But equally important to keep the process of almost all business organizations are the basic ICT services, which they are based. However, it is easy to forget that ICT services are dependent on the human dimension to continue to operate at the desired level.

It is essential in planning the necessary lack of human, organizational factors that serve to the level of human interaction and maintain ICT services are. This article examines the interactive routine tasks such as daily operations and backup and recovery process and break / fix activities, and have the impact that downsizing is on the subject.

Back Office ICT continuity
can the vast majority of organizations have developed special “flu contingency plans and mechanisms to manage the lack of high potential employees and ensure continuity in relation to the protection of their critical business processes. absenteeism for various reasons – such as social policy of stay away” ” , a public transport system significantly reduces labor and make travel difficult, illness or need care to sick children or other relatives.

The main objective for most companies is to ensure that the customer and can be maintained despite reduced staff to revenue-generating services. Therefore prone to the pandemic business continuity plans at two important aspects to focus: first, the well-being of employees and secondly at the top in the provision of services. While the continuity of these two components is essential, will often overlook a key element directed activities of their customers – the back-office functions that support them. The operation is part of ICT activities. It is easy to forget that the automated “hands-off operation of ICT requires some human interaction. In fact, many businesses underestimate the amount of hands on support for a strong IT continuity plan is required.

Keeping technology running – the continuity of ICT in a significant disturbance
It is not for the organizations to some degree have the ability to remotely access rarely their ICT systems. If this is the case, then it is likely that telework is somewhere in the company plan for business continuity.

In many organizations, however, used remote access, an ability to work remotely for a limited number of employees with only a small percentage of patients using the service at any time. Subscription vary for remote access 02 hours 01-08 hours 01 use of statistics in order. With the higher value, it could be up to eight participants per line available. Normally this is not a problem since most users can access when needed. But all that changes when a large number of employees can not attend the office, for example due to weather or major disruption of traffic, both were bad experiences in the United Kingdom in February 2009. When this situation occurs, the remote access service subscribed seriously about.

Avoid denial of access to remote
Our experience has shown that there is often little or no planning when it comes to the productive use of the limited capacity of the remote access. It really is a “free for all”, with staff in the operation for connectivity. It is not practical for short periods of disturbance, but can have serious consequences if the large-scale displacement of personnel covering a longer time, especially if telecommuting is a possible response option for your organization.

In planning for effective business continuity, organizations must the criteria for the utilization of remote access. The plan should clearly state who can remotely access if they can and have, for how long. This allows the people involved and their functions are the necessary priority.

ICT at the front
It is understood that without their ICT skills, many organizations, at best, or be troubled, and at worst not at the forefront of services. It is therefore important that companies know exactly what their core ICT services and what are the must-human interactions that they have to keep going. Through a clear idea of how many hands on the operation of ICT and the activities in question that you have to consider these elements in your business continuity planning.

Organizations must not only carried out the duties of their employees, but also to determine any special skills that are carried out by suppliers or outsourcing partners to try and, as these providers are resilient in the face of a significant interruption of its operations. You should also be aware of this too often only one member of the ICT Department is the key to “carriers of knowledge” or an expert in a particular application, system or service. What is the IT department and the organization in the expertise and knowledge about a person?

In assessing the continuity of ICT companies must also examine how the loss of a specific person within their ICT team is the ongoing performance of their ICT services to affect to incidents, and as they are in relation to the provision of services to the forefront Front.

Common practices of ICT activities
Regardless of the size of the organization or the nature of its activities, there are several common activities that lead them all and require a certain amount of practical work. Some of them could be remotely executed, while others may need access to ICT facilities.

It is the basic monitoring systems and operational functions necessary to keep services running. This is usually made directly to the installation of ICT or a bridge to the remote operation. But what about the other functions of the team can perform the operations?

The continuity of the ICT and home economics backups
Let housekeeping and backups in particular. There are two main purposes of data backup: first, to data from operational errors such as data corruption (however caused) and user error, and secondly for the recovery of disaster. Organizations need to know how their backups are made and how much automation used. Suppose that the backups are written to tape and that the IT staff must manually load and unload tapes. If they do not in the position as regards the impact of backup processing?

In some companies, disaster recovery backups are sent to an offsite facility. What would be the impact if not agents, courier or storage have been able to collect the tapes and lead to your name? And what about bands that have been returned to the library tapes rebuild should be, how many days of “scratch bands are available to secure permit to continue processing? You should also ask whether the tape drive business a Pandemic plan in order to ensure their commitment to maintain your services.

ICT maintenance and break / fix arrangement
Now consider the maintenance and break / fix organizational arrangements. If this is not a big problem when the end is the maintenance work, can not the answer to break / fix legends are told. How resilient ICT services are above that to support the online activities? What the service will continue, albeit at a reduced capacity, if a component is defective or if the service does? Also what the procedures for the continuity of your residence suppliers / fix is?

These are some issues that contribute to vulnerabilities in your business continuity planning for ICT is.

What steps you can take in the planning of effective ICT continuity?

- It is imperative that you identify and carry out a test for all hands on ICT activities and determine how they in the service of ICT in general. Do not overlook any activity that appear trivial, are also the most critical.

- Review of the ICT infrastructure at all major points of failure. Consider the implementation of the greater power of resistance, what two advantages: First, it reduced the likelihood of component failure has caused an interruption of service, and secondly it will help improve the stability of long-term service.

- Create a temporary backup and recovery strategy. If the bands are at a premium then consider reducing the number of generations used. Is it really necessary to set the value of seven or ten days of backup or storage of three days to keep the short term acceptable?

- Let us carry out the creation of procedures (and training) of non-ICT staff for specific tasks as required. The tape management and treatment process is a good example, it will at least allow the backup to continue processing in particular for disaster recovery.

- It connects to all your suppliers and that they made sufficient continuity arrangements. Do not let their lack of resilience to difficulties create for you.

The devil is in the details
I hope this has highlighted the need for the human element of continuity check of ICT services. As always, the devil is in the details, but give this dependence on the operational level of a people already difficult situation could be a “key person” can not go wrong, or worse to work.

The typical accident, fire, flood, earthquakes, hurricanes, or other damage, installation and / or data center. This does not mean that technical failures (hardware failures, power failures, etc. can not) for disaster recovery. Whatever the case of a disaster declaration begins the formal process of business continuity plan.

Disaster declaration criteria
- The following criteria are as activities that justify the declaration of a disaster may have been identified:
- There is an actual or potential threat to human security in the data centers of the existing plant
- There is an actual or potential danger to the building or equipment
- It is necessary to move the data center to another facility

Objective:

- The objective of the Business Continuity Plan is to make the strategies, personnel, procedures and resources necessary to document each department again after any kind of disruption or disaster. The following objectives were established for this plan:
- To the procedures for notification and activation of employees, customers and suppliers
- Around the recovery of critical business processes and critical to a different location
- To return to the process of restoration of processing capabilities of the primary site
- The contingency plan allows the company to best meet the industry practices to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity and availability of critical and confidential data.

Business continuity plan can be created internally or by third parties, create plans for you. If you have used alternative means, it is recommended that a full exploitation Emergency Plan Enterprise Suite includes model templates for Business Impact Analysis (BIA), risk assessment facilities, redevelopment plan technological disaster, business continuity planning and testing and revision of the plan. Part-time expense of consumers of this project is the collection of data.

Your success is to create a disaster recovery plan that focus on these important areas: communication with employees, the continuation of critical business processes and provide a replacement technology and facilities operations.

A critical factor in the ability of a company, manage their workforce during and after the disaster, the teams of the key persons to ensure the special responsibility that business continuity are established. If a disaster occurs, the connection with the employees and gives them access to tools with which to work critically.

One area that is easily overlooked, is planning for employees who may be personally affected by the disaster to help. Spend time discussing this issue with leaders, with the help of the latest disaster as a guide. Document local aid agencies, what they offer and their contact information. Discuss how your organization financially. The development of these options in advance will ensure that the plans are finished, be implemented as soon as possible.

Employee Communications
Communication with employees is the most important aspect of disaster planning. It is meant for all employees that it is important a disaster recovery plan in place and their role in the plan. Some companies an overview of the Disaster Recovery Plan in its orientation for new employees. Ongoing communication and updating of the plan will be invaluable if to prove in case of disaster.

may be affected in many disasters, traditional methods of communication, it is important to define a communication strategy alternatives. to ensure that your first step to good communication is to create a comprehensive communications plan. The plan includes procedures, as if to confirm that your employees are safe on the way from the disaster and to focus a seamless communication within the organization.

These procedures include voice communication strategy, the main lines, should disaster dial-in routing capabilities and the delivery of critical lines to remote sites or emergency. Procedures for emergency notification and installation of emergency kits including battery chargers and adapters for laptops and cell phones.

Is there a method created to keep employees informed daily. An answering machine can be taken or published toll-free for the employee check-in and status information. Set the duration of routine calls with action teams and leadership in the field. To inform staff will make sure they know what to expect when you expect, and how they work and how they connect with their management team.

Use standard text-messaging, messaging systems are excellent forms of communication. SMS service is available, offer that one method is to send a message, and it is for all employees at one time to pay, provided they have the ability to activate SMS on their mobile phones. Other communication methods include the use of satellite phones and e-mails from personal accounts on the mobile Internet.

Whatever your method of delivery, voice communication is preferred, if possible. Create a hierarchy of call trees to ensure that the information to spread throughout the organization.

With a Call Tree Department, attributed the team shall notify the appropriate staff to enable the service Disaster Recovery Plan. The first person will then contact for contacting the next person on the call tree. Any person on the tree, call the person under him / her. If a person can access the call tree within a given period, the caller to the next person on the tree is moving. If this happens, the caller on his incompetence, the person directly below him to contact the Call Tree report.

When the last man is called on each arm of the call tree (s), they should call the lead agency designated to communicate the message that the call tree has been passed. A call list is a good tool to use to view the process in action. It includes the employee name, phone number, title, and then called the status or action taken.

Create an e-mail strategy, to run concurrently with the phone tree to ensure communication with employees, who have no access to telephones.
Besides the call tree, establishing routine communication with the status of recovery and action teams on a schedule determined by your business hours. And finally, create a recorded message to a hotline for all employees that will be updated as often as needed throughout the disaster.

What to communicate
During and after a disaster, emotions are high and the fear of the unknown causes people to scenarios that may or creating non-existent. Employees must know that the leaders of society is intact and available. And, mainly affecting the personal needs of employees of the disaster should be addressed. The implementation of the above plan and communicate to those affected.

A major concern of all staff payroll. Is their salary on time and available? How can they access their money? Another concern is how can I do my job?

The certainty that the business and operates it a means to eliminate the work of the fear and help staff to focus on the performance of their jobs, leading to higher productivity.

The secret of maintaining “business as usual”
Once again, pre-planning comes in. Two other areas to consider are contingent facilities construction and plant emergency. Whether your data center will be locally on your company logo or a remote office installation has developed emergency procedures for both. Other sites for both business operations and the installation of data centers must be taken into account in your plan.

critical business processes will work in your organization operate an emergency. For example, mentioned the staffing company had previously deployed personnel and payroll staff for the emergency work in a different city. The staff of the implementation of accounting functions have been done on alternative sites in the city. The employees had an alternative access to enterprise applications over the Internet.

Access to their systems is of great importance to the ability of employees to work. A Web site that was located immediately activated an emergency redundant data and employees could continue to do their work without problems. The access to systems and know that the data are correct creates a strong sense of comfort in a row to keep the workforce engaged and productive.

The Bottom Line
Maintain a productive workforce during and after a disaster on a business plan is based. The plan should be thorough and provide step by step instructions for the maintenance of critical business processes. When employees’ confidence that the plan is in force, both for their personal and professional well-being, and that its leadership is under control, they continue to take whatever at a high level of disaster.

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Well, the purpose of the BIA is different. In all, the business continuity of time – it does not matter whether you can recover your business when it completed within a reasonable time. “Fair” is what the BIA is to determine – its main task is to know what is the goal of recovery time for each key activity within an organization.

This type of analysis is often taken lightly – firstly, the company is usually not aware that incorrect results may arise unnecessary costs or create a lack of business continuity strategy, but also the effort required to perform BIA underestimated.

So here are some tips that will make your analysis of the effects of business more efficient:

Treat it as a Mini () of the project. Defining the person responsible for their implementation and their authority to define the scope, objectives and deadlines.

Do your homework, prepare a good questionnaire. A well-structured questionnaire to save time and make the results more accurate. BS 25999-1 and BS 25999-2 will give you a pretty good idea about what to include – among other things, identify the impact of incidents and how they vary over time to identify resources necessary for recovery, etc.. It is good practice questions for the qualitative and quantitative information to be used to determine the impact.

Set clear criteria. If you are prompted to answer questions of the allocation of values such as 1-5, make sure you explain exactly what each of these five brands. It is not the same event is unusual, such as catastrophic evaluate the lower-level employees, while the Board evaluates its moderate impact.

Collection of data by the interaction of humans. The best results are achieved when a person takes in Business Continuity qualified to interview the person responsible for a critical activity. In this way, many open questions clarified and balanced response can be achieved. If interviews are not feasible, at least one workshop with all stakeholders so that they all that is disturbing, she can ask. In other words, not only do they send the questionnaires and complain when they come back in time again.

Determine recovery time objectives only after gathering all the dependencies. For example, through the questionnaire, you might notice that the critical activity “A” maximum tolerable period of disruption for two days, but the maximum tolerable period of disruption to critical activity ‘B’ a day and he can not without the help of the critical activities A. Relax, meaning that the target for recovery time “A” will one day instead of two days.

In my experience, the results of the BIA often unexpected – usually the target recovery time is longer than originally thought, and BIA shows the dependence on resources that are actually a single point of failure. But best of all, the business impact analysis of the most effective way to get people thinking about the unexpected – by creating this awareness, you increase the chances for the survival of your business.