Over at Utterz, the topic of conversation is “Service Interruptions: How Long is Too Long?”
It’s a good question. And it piggybacks (is that a word?) on a topic I wrote about a few days ago: the ins and outs of disaster recovery.
Our company provided direct relief efforts for businesses affected by 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, so I know of what I speak.
Of the cases that were assigned to us, we could only help 20 percent get their business’s technology back on track. That means 80 percent of businesses went under.
And, believe you me, it wasn’t for lack of skill, expertise or effort. We tried. They tried. We all tried. But, ultimately there is not much you can do for a company that:
- Doesn’t have an off-site back-up of its critical files;
- Has a backup device that has never been tested and, when push came to shove, the device malfunctioned or couldn’t restore for some other reason;
- Can’t supply a complete contact list of suppliers, clients and alliances for communication and notification;
- Doesn’t have enough money in the budget to replace destroyed equipment;
- Has not identified an off-site location to set up temporary residence; or
- Does not have access to project files, business planning documents or even legal and financial documentation.
Your clients may very well be raving fans. Your suppliers may routinely go the extra mile for you. Your alliances may deliver value-added service for your clients time and time again.
However, at some point, your clients/alliance partners/suppliers will have to get back to business, with or without your company on board.
Business is not personal; business is business. And your colleagues simply will not wait forever for you to get your act together.
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 11:53 am and is filed under Business, Productivity, Risk and Recovery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
