Disaster seems to be synonymous in the Middle East, but many countries in the region have very stable economies with infrastructure in power management, roads, information and communications technology (ICT) and healthcare that rivals, and even surpasses, major cities in first world countries. The benefit of having first world conveniences and technology also means being susceptible to the vulnerabilities if and when a disaster takes place that takes out the Internet, mobile communications, power grid and more.
Saudi Arabia is investing tens of billions of dollars annually in upgrading its entire infrastructure and this includes its digital network. An article written by Molouk Y. Ba-Isa titled, "In a Disaster, 82 Percent of Region’s Businesses Would Fail" he points out the need for Saudi Arabia as a nation to implement disaster recovery/business continuity (DC/BC) plans.
Molouk highlights several incidents in which the country suffered communications network outages, including the SEA-ME-WE submarine cable cuts in 2008. This and other incidents have resulted in ICT glitches throughout the country at Saudi border crossings, banks and government offices which, according to Molouk, are common.
Whether it is the infrastructure of an entire country or an organization, a DC/BC plan has to be implemented to ensure rapid recovery in the event of catastrophic failure. The 82 percent rate cited in the article is from Omnix International, which according to its survey of IT decision makers, the region would have difficulty in recovering from a disaster. Additionally 64 percent of the respondents stated they have experienced system collapse and data loss in the last year.
These are very high rates of data loss and system failures, but what is even more disturbing is another study found 65 percent of organizations surveyed in nine countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, did not have a business continuity plan in place. And of those that had one in place, 57 percent rated it as average or below average.
Unfortunately most organizations wait until they experience a disaster before they implement a policy, but with the average cost of downtime for a midsize company costing about $70,000, per hour (Gartner (News
- Alert)), it would be much cheaper to have the best DC/BC plan in place.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson