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Stay connected despite disaster

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Tell us what you think about Mike Talon's advice about keeping your organization connected in the event of a service outage, as featured in the April 8 Disaster Recovery e-newsletter. Are there things other than redundant lines, a backup modem, and some form of remote control system that you think are essential for guaranteeing connectivity? Let us know if this information is useful to you.

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https://www.techrepublic.com/techmails.jhtml?repID=r001

3 replies

by wiredlessmvp

In all the discussions about process, tools and connectivity, seldom do I hear someone say "make sure people know how to continue their work if the network / PC isn't available." It's worth the effort to create a worklist of things that can be accomplished without the machinery in place. To believe that an entire organization MUST operate minimally if the systems aren't available is to forget that we operated for decades without a PC. Is there a report that a person never seems to get to? Print it out: review it when there's no network access. When was the last time someone actually wrote a letter: remember the pencil? ...and the kerosene lamp of the accounting department, the calculator, doesn't care if a network exists...

My point is that we too easily fall apart when the system goes down, when in actuality the human system is quite capable of adapting and performing without a computer network. Shame on geekdom for creating such a silly paradigm shift ;-) (just had to usethat old cliche again) Spend some time in DR and business continuity by reviewing 'network down' tasks for employees and it won't seem as if every SLA in the world falls on IT's shoulders.

by miketalonnyc

Things like e-mail, which are now mandatory and vital parts of many orgnaization - much like the phones used to be - can't be duplicated without Information Technology.

Faxes rely on digital networks more often than not, so that doesn't count.Mail takes days if not weeks to complete a transaction, so that's no good.

Travel is time consuming and expensive, so nix that as well.

Phones can't convey digital signatures and documents, so no go there.

Unfortunately, thanks to all the advancements that have made our current business world turn, we are dependent on IT to survive in the business world.

While I wish I could side with you, on this topic I'm going to have to say the point is valid, but impracticle.

Mike Talon
www.miketalon.com

by rickydoo

I have to agree. In this day and age DR for business involves a global, almost military response to adversity.
If you're talking minimum requirements for survival, make sure your laptop is charged and you have a fax modem, today's equivalent of quill and paper.
Forget the kerosene lantern, recharge your flashlight batteries in the car. Get a 110V inverter, they are priceless.
Put a PCMCIA slot in your server and keep a cel modem handy. Don't sneak it home on the weekends.
BTW, faxes workfine on analogue phone lines :p

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