“This is like deja vu all over again.” - Yogi Berra.

June 1 of each year marks the beginning of the hurricane season and this year is starting out with ominous warnings. On May 9, 2007, the first named storm and first subtropical cyclone, Andrea, came on the scene three weeks prior to the official start of the season. On May 22, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its 2007 forecast indicating a very high (75%) chance of an above-normal hurricane season, a 20% chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5% chance of a below-normal season. The number of named storms and hurricanes predicted are as follows:

Named Storms:13-17

Hurricanes:7-10

Major Hurricanes:3-5

As the season officially began on June 1, the second named Atlantic storm, Barry, arrived. That same day the financial channels emphasized how an active hurricane season would adversely affect the oil markets. On June 4 and 5, the “NOAA Image of the Day,” was of tropical cyclone Gonu, a 150 mph+ storm with the classic well-formed eye at its center. It was traveling towards the Gulf of Oman, the major shipping route for Persian Gulf oil producers. This is an excellent example of how an event on the opposite side of the globe can affect U.S. businesses either domestically or in other locations. Does your company have a global backup plan?

This column has always emphasized that most business interruptions are not due to “classic” disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis and major fires. Generally people think of the physical threats like these and ignore less obvious but more common business interruptions. Events such as data security breaches, hardware or application failures, power outages, or even ordinary business proceedings like a buy-out or merger can be just as troublesome. However, the start of the hurricane season is a good “call to action” reminder for an enterprise of any size.

In 2006 very few businesses experienced downtime due to hurricanes. Many of these enterprises have become complacent and may not be prepared. The same complacency is evident for other business interruptions. Fires hit very few businesses each year and most are restricted to single buildings and are not considered a disaster for a community. But, if it is your building that burns it is definitely a major disaster. Even if you have multiple locations, what happens if your data center is destroyed or your primary telecommunications infrastructure? Does your company have alternate sites that can come online within a reasonable amount of time to protect your business operations? Without a solid contingency plan in place, your business may not survive. All anyone has to do each month is scan the articles in Internet Telephony and other TMC publications to understand that the world of telecom and data security have taken a quantum leap in the past few years. Not having a data and telecom contingency plan in place is clearly negligent.

If you want to put a plan in place and now is the time, the best way to hit the ground running is to bring in a competent business continuity/disaster planning firm. TMC and the ECA are both very strong proponents of using resellers and consultants for your converged IP needs and continuity planning is simply an extension of this strategy. Business continuity is not like other business functions that you do every day and get better and better at each time. It is like making a good first impression - you only have one chance to get it right.

Our February 2007 column featured an interview with Michael Croy, Director, Business Continuity Solutions, Forsythe Solutions Group, Inc. There are some excellent ideas on why you should use a business continuity specialist (www.tmcnet.com/757.1).

The July 2006 column reviewed some ideas for last minute preparations including using hosted and managed services (www.tmcnet.com/758.1).

A concluding note: While wrapping up this column’s final version, a NOAA-generated severe thunderstorm watch for Norwalk Connecticut (TMC’s offices) flashed on the screen. A local tornado warning was also broadcast. Tornados are rare in Connecticut but certainly possible and definitely capable of disrupting power and communications. IT

Max Schroeder is a board member of the ECA, media relations committee chairman, and liaison to TMC. He is also the Sr. Vice President of FaxCore, Inc.

Rich Tehrani is the President and Group Editor-in-Chief at TMC.

If your organization has an interest in participating in the TMC/ECA Disaster Preparedness Communications Forum, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

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