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DISASTER RECOVERY
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| During
Engineers Week, on February 19, 2003 Mr. Ernest Heidelberg presented
a most informative presentation of 'Engineering Challenges in Disaster
Recovery'. The dinner meeting took place at the Oak Room in the Barone
Campus Center. The following is a brief sunopsis of the topic, a biographical
sketch of Mr. Heidelberg and a copy of the viewgraphs he presented.
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| ENGINEERING CHALLENGES
IN DISASTER RECOVERY |
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Now, more than
ever, engineers need to make certain that their organizations continue
to function after minor incidents or major disasters (from slight data
loss to natural events or terrorism).
Planning
is required in order to address risk reduction, failures mitigation and
recovery implementation.
Decisions must be made based on criticality, priorities and cost versus
risk considerations. Successful disaster recovery depends on properly
dealing with risk identification, vulnerabilities
and exposures, disruption and disaster business impact, continuitystrategy
development, emergency response, viable recovery strategies, managementbuy-in,
plan testing, implementation and auditing, training and periodic plan
updating.
Awareness about
business continuity has increased after 9/11.
Do you know what it takes to make sure that your organization stays alive?
It’s better to plan what to do before disaster strikes then panic
when it happens!!
The presentation should
help you in understanding and addressing some of the disaster recovery
issues.
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Ernest Heidelberg
Seasoned international business executive.
Broad experience ranging from corporate enterprises
like IBM and FIAT to professional
societies such as ASME and IEEE as well as in running
small businesses.
Principal owner of Heidelberg Engineering
Associates since 1992,
Focus on:
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Management consulting,
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Business continuity
planning
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Consumer product
development
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Conference/seminar
planning
Holds several Engineering Master of
Science Degrees.
Fluent in German and Spanish.
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| DEFINITIONS
(Webster's Collegiate Dictionary) |
Disaster
· A sudden, calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, or
destruction.
· A sudden or great misfortune or failure.
Recover
· To get back, regain.
· To bring back
to normal position or condition.
Continuity
· Uninterrupted connection, succession or union.
· Uninterrupted duration or continuation, esp. without essential
change.
Contingency
· An event (as an emergency) that may but is not certain to occur.
· Something liable to happen as an adjunct or result of something
else
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STATISTICS
(The Hartford Financial Service
Group)
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Business-affecting Disasters
· 68 % due to human error
· 25 % by hardware / software failures
· 5 % natural disasters
· 2 % intentional causes
· Fewer than 25 % of organizations
have a contingency plan
· Disaster – No plan – 43 % never reopen
· 1993 WTC bombing: 150 of 350 closed one year later
· Most companies without computers for more than ten days will
not recover fully
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DISASTER RECOVERY
or BUSINESS CONTINUITY
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Questions
· What can happen?
· What could you lose?
· Then what?
Risk reduction
· What are the alternatives?
· Failure mitigation
· Recovery process
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Beginning of a Plan
· Implementation
· Testing and Training
Completed
Plan
· Auditing
· Plan Updating
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SAMPLE of BUSINESS CONTINUITY
PLANNING QUESTIONS
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Some sample questions that you should ask:
· What is your most important asset?
· What is your mayor exposure?
· Is there a continuity plan?
· Who is in charge of it?
· Does it cover personnel, physical and data assets?
· When was it tested?
· Do you know how much money is lost for each hour of downtime?
· Are there backups for equipment and data?
· Can you contact your staff when needed?
· Did you consider how to temporarily or permanently replace
key personnel?
· Is there a news media disaster communication plan available?
Who is in charge?
· How do you prevent unauthorized entry to your business?
· How do you avoid destruction of vital equipment or information?
· Does everyone know what to do when disaster strikes?
· Are local emergency authorities and media aware of and involved
with your plan?
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Heidelberg Engineering Associates
25 Bonnie Brook Road
Westport, CT 06880
Phone: (203) 226-0780, Fax: (203) 226-0936
E-mail: Ernest. Ernest.Heidelberg@ieee.org
last updated SEPTEMBER 20, 2008
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