This article originally appeared in the October 2010 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY
Organizations need to work continually at protecting themselves from business interruptions by implementing a business continuity plan. Of course, human nature being what it is, we tend to procrastinate until the black knights are storming the castle. At that point, it may be too late for the white knights to save your company or organization.
Today’s black knights wield weapons with names like power outages, floods, ice storms, viruses, legacy communications and other nastiness. Instead of Excalibur, the white knights wield swords named virtualization, SIP trunking, SaaS (News - Alert), VoIP, FoIP and unified communications. Just like King Arthur’s sword, these weapons also seem to be imbued with magical powers.
In Medieval times, royalty incurred substantial costs in keeping their knights in food, weapons, housing and horses. However, the knights did prevent the sacking of the castle so the expense was justified. With today’s white knights your costs are limited to the purchase and implementation of the solutions they recommend. Plus many of the solutions pay your organization back with reduced overhead, increased efficiencies, lower communications costs and employee mobility. In other words, it reverses the standard definition of protection money. The castle is protected, yet the castle dwellers make a profit – sort of magical if you think about it that way, isn’t it?
The column’s authors have had some fun writing this piece about knights and magic. Presenting serious subjects in an entertaining format can also facilitate information retention like the ongoing message of this series – act today to protect your castle. There is nothing entertaining about a disaster, and telecommunications resellers really are white knights wielding 21st Century swords. Call your reseller today to discuss your requirements.
Many of you will be reading this column while attending ITEXPO (News - Alert) West 2010. If that is the case, make sure you research the many BC solutions being presented by exhibitors and speakers. In addition, for some guidelines on how to make best use of your ITEXPO experience, please refer to the August 2009 Column - An Investment in Business Continuity, which can be found at http://tmcnet.com/36504.1.
Edited by Tammy Wolf
