Every day, CEOs ask: How are we better than our rivals? How are we going to stay better? Sound familiar? For many, the answer increasingly lies in cloud computing. Companies are embracing it enthusiastically, because cloud can help companies be more agile, lower capex, and expand quicker than their rivals. International Data Corporation expects global… Continue reading 2015: The Year of Cloud Recoverability

Jeff Dato is the head of regional risk and reputation (Americas) for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). Dato has been an active member in the business continuity industry for nearly three decades. He has authored numerous articles, is a mentor, and is highly sought after for his views on both the current state and future state… Continue reading Ask The Executive: An Interview with Jeff Dato of InterContinental Hotels Group

Everyone loves good news and hates the bad. Hearing “yes” is great, hearing “no” is not so great. Desiring to hear “you will be getting all you asked” is human nature. It makes life better, less stressful, and often times makes your job simpler. Just like there is no crying in baseball, good intentions by… Continue reading Beware of Artificial Readiness

California, the US Geological Survey and the media have inadvertently misled the public into thinking earthquakes just happen, and there is nothing to do but wait, suffer, and recover. Nothing is further from the truth. While humans have no control over Earth movements, much can be done to reduce financial loss, recover quicker, and save… Continue reading Big Computer Centers Bigger Quakes

Ah, summertime – the pace of life has slowed down a bit and it seems like everyone is out enjoying the fresh warm summer days. This time of the year is when we often find ourselves being more active, visiting with friends and family more and taking some much-needed downtime. Of course though, as you… Continue reading Business Doesn’t Take the Summer Off

DevOps is an important technology movement that is often misunderstood. It may seem like just another exotic and passing software fad. However, DevOps is gaining enough steam that it’s important to understand its impact on IT. What is DevOps and Where Did it Come From? DevOps is primarily a cultural or philosophical movement about how… Continue reading DevOps: History, Principles, Tools, and Business Impact

Several years ago, I published an article with DRJ entitled “Facts and Stats” that listed the scales of measurement for various types of phenomena, mostly weather related. Recently, I was amazed to see a few of these have since been updated … Cyclones, Hurricanes, and Typhoons Hurricane season in the Atlantic begins June 1st and… Continue reading Facts and Stats … An Update

The importance of public private partnerships in assisting in planning, response, and recovery from a disaster has long been known. Over the years you have read in this column about real-world examples of these partnerships. But I still see a reluctance of private sector organizations in joining or forming such partnerships. Why is that? There… Continue reading Having a Successful Public Private Partnership

Learn about six best practices that can help your organization ensure higher service availability, protect data better, and improve system performance. Downtime of critical business services, associated data loss, and the need to maintain required performance levels are top concerns for all enterprise information technology (IT) teams. As a result, companies are shifting toward an… Continue reading Improving Availability, Data Protection, and System Performance

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a business continuity event, hosted by the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, which took a close look at resilience in supply chain management. It was a wonderfully new experience, with at least two-thirds of the audience comprised of students from UMD… Continue reading Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Business Continuity Professionals