Weather the storm with business continuity
By Linda King, G2G3
Yesterday, it snowed in the UK. It snowed so hard that it brought certain regions to a complete standstill. London was particularly badly hit, with London Transport going completely offline. Not only did the physical infrastructures such as transport etc. struggle to cope, but the IT infrastructures also couldn’t cope. Many of the transport websites failed with the flurry of hits that came their way, and many commuters were left completely in the dark about the status of transport services. It was estimated that 20% of the UK workforce did not make it into work. The cost of snowy Monday? A cool 1.2 billion pounds. Luckily we do not have such extreme weather very frequently - however it highlights the fact that many businesses need to consider continuity in these extreme circumstances. Were many of those stranded people able to work from home? Did they know if they could? Did they have any comprehension of their companies continuity policies? Not only does business continuity need to be considered, it needs to be communicated, and many businesses just don't do this. The last thing our economy needed was a day like yesterday.... and unfortunately there is more snow to come....
Yesterday, it snowed in the UK. It snowed so hard that it brought certain regions to a complete standstill. London was particularly badly hit, with London Transport going completely offline. Not only did the physical infrastructures such as transport etc. struggle to cope, but the IT infrastructures also couldn’t cope. Many of the transport websites failed with the flurry of hits that came their way, and many commuters were left completely in the dark about the status of transport services. It was estimated that 20% of the UK workforce did not make it into work. The cost of snowy Monday? A cool 1.2 billion pounds. Luckily we do not have such extreme weather very frequently - however it highlights the fact that many businesses need to consider continuity in these extreme circumstances. Were many of those stranded people able to work from home? Did they know if they could? Did they have any comprehension of their companies continuity policies? Not only does business continuity need to be considered, it needs to be communicated, and many businesses just don't do this. The last thing our economy needed was a day like yesterday.... and unfortunately there is more snow to come....
posted by G2G3 Blog at
10:42
2 Comments:
Linda - You raise some interesting points - it's the smaller risks like this that are likely to get SME's thinking about BCM! I have written a short article on my blog with five quick tips as a direct result of "snow day"!
Daniel - danmitch.typepad.com
By
Daniel Mitchell, At
04 February 2009 23:24
I have heard of a lot about the heavy snowfall on 2February09 in London.I was wondering how can people manage to work under such difficult times.But after reading this post I have concluded that.....Every employee should understand very well that they'll have to work for the company what ever may be the circumstances....
ITIL Version 3
By
markinson, At
05 November 2009 13:54
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