Since I started on the topic of consolidation and virtualization, here’s my take on server virtualization and the 8 things you should be aware of: (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Availability’
8 things you should know about Server Virtualization
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010Conducting a BIA (Business Impact Analysis)
Monday, October 5th, 2009Yesterday, I touched on the BCM program and I cautioned about holding the IT department responsible for BCM. Lets pause for a while and zoom into why that is the case.
One of the most important activity in the Business Continuity planning process is the Business Impact Analysis (BIA). Typically, BIA is used to identify, qualify and quantify the exposure and impact of threats to your business. With these impact analyzed and quantified, forming the output of the BIA, you will then be able to justify the reasons and case for a business continuity plan. In a nut shell, BIA can be used to:
- Determine the extent to which critical functional and operational dependencies exists within the organization and how important are these functions to the business,
- Assess the impact of a disruption to identified critical functional area or business operations within the organization,
- Establish the priorities and sequence in which critical data processing applications and key business functions should be restored.
If the BIA is used to determine critical business functions, then it wouldn’t make sense to just let IT handle this on their own. It needs to involve the business units and the rest of the organization, especially with the Executive Management support.
Business Continuity Management
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
According to Gartner, 50% of all businesses fail after experiencing a major disruption. The lack of planning and preparation for these disruptions can cause a major blow to a business, which may include losing its customers, assets, personnel, etc. A business is more likely to recover if it has a plan and has taken into account all the areas on which its business depends on to function normally.
In the past (and probably some organizations are still doing this today), IT Disaster Recovery has been part of the IT department’s responsibility. IT’s primary focus for IT DR was to ensure that they pass their annual audits. Unfortunately, I believe there might still be some confusion on the part of business owners thinking that business continuity management and planning is strictly planning for IT Disaster Recovery and is an IT problem. How unfortunate, because IT Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) is merely just a subset of the whole scheme of Business Continuity management. DRI International defines Business Continuity Management as a holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten an organization and provies a framework towards building resilience with the capability for an effective is defined as Today’s business environment is more demanding and complex, compared to the old days. We continuously face challenges in delivering services to our customers in real-time and have less tolerance for disruptions.
