The idea for this column began with a conversation between the two of us at ITEXPO (News - Alert) West 2005 in Los Angeles. 2005 was the most active hurricane season in recorded history, and the devastation caused by Katrina was on everyone’s mind. 2005 was also a turning point for IP telephony as, for the first time, more IP telephony systems were shipped than TDM phone systems.

We understood that too few organizations did not grasp the impact of emerging IP technologies on business continuity/disaster recovery designs. For example, companies could now reduce operating costs by implementing an IP PBX (News - Alert) including a more robust feature set plus get a piece to their BC/DR plan puzzle in the bargain. Other emerging technologies appropriate for BC/DR could increase workforce mobility, provide regulatory compliance and improve productivity

An integral part of our BC/DR equation included SaaS (News - Alert) and other cloud services. In 2005/2006 many people were still skeptical of cloud services due to the dotcom crash of 2002. The Nasdaq Composite had lost 78 percent of its value and many Internet startups had gone down the drain. However, we persisted in defending the model as perfect for BC/DR planning despite some phone calls from investment “experts” questioning our support of the cloud model.

From the outset, this column emphasized that, statistically, major disasters like Katrina were the exception. More common occurrences like electrical outages and security breaches caused most business interruptions. However, the major Northeast storms of the past few years that struck our home area were a reminder that a good BC/DR plan must also factor in major events. Fortunately, our plan was solid, and TMC (News - Alert) remained operational during these tragic events.  

With the advent of new technologies that make bring-your-own-device meetings possible, security concerns are more important than ever. Recent government unease regarding cloud solutions for regulations like HIPAA increase the importance of security to a BC/DR plan. Again, TMC is leading the way with a new event, SecureIT: Protecting Your Enterprise in a BYOD World at NYU Kimmel Center in NYC this July. ITEXPO Las Vegas, Aug. 27-29, 2013, will also provide exhibits and seminars on how to deal with these risks.

So why listen to our advice? Because we did, and it worked for us.

Max Schroeder is the senior vice president of FaxCore Inc. (www.faxcore.com ). 

Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) is the CEO and group editor-in-chief at TMC, and conference chairman of ITEXPO.