Are You Ready For Your Next Disaster?
By Bob Boyles, President, Smarter Distribution

In the ranking of most un-inspiring topics disaster planning ranks somewhere after the annual audit but before root canals. However, recent world events have made contingency planning a hot topic for companies of all sizes across the country. You can buy insurance to protect your buildings and business from floods, fire, hurricanes, theft, etc. but unfortunately I haven't run across anyone that sells insurance against computer problems. So until someone starts selling the type of insurance we really need we're going to have to protect ourselves.

Level One: Daily Habits - The old saying “that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies to your computer system. The best way to prevent problems is to practice good computer operations. One of the most important prevention methods available to you is absolutely free. The ability to perform a proper backup should be one of the MIS manager’s primary duties. But the ability to do a backup is only the beginning of understanding the critical role that this activity plays.

Tape Rotations - I was working with a General Manager recently and asked him about his backup procedures. He proudly opened his desk drawer and pulled out last week's backup tape. "We make backups every night and I'll take one home every once in a while" was how he described his backup procedure. The problem was that there was no rhyme or reason to when he took a tape home, there were several clattering around in his desk drawer. I recommended that he follow a simple plan to ensure the health of his backups. Have one tape for each day of the week, a Monday tape, a Tuesday tape, a Wednesday tape, etc. I also recommended starting a practice of saving the end-of-month tapes. Then what ever day of the week that the end-of-month falls on, replace the tape. This would provide to nice benefits. First, he would have a copy of every month end and he would replace each of the daily tapes over the course of several months.
Second benefit is that you have a snap shot of your records at the end of every month. Need to create a balance sheet from 1999 for an out-of-state tax auditor? No sweat, just pop in that months end-of-month tape restore the data to a test account and left the poor fellow have at it.

Off-site Storage of Records - It's pretty basic to assume that if the building burns down and the computers are in the building that they are going to burn up also, so most of you out there have some procedure in place for taking a back-up tape off-site. The simplest thing to do is to take a tape home and store it there. Don’t do like some folks and throw the backup tapes in the trunk to be squished by your golf clubs or stuff them in the glove compartment to be damaged next time Junior is in the car hunting for a flashlight. The whole point of have a back-up tape is that it needs to be readable so we can get some data off of it in case we need it. If you're taking the tapes home and using them to prop up your workbench in the garage they're not going to be of any value when a disaster strikes.

Test Those Tapes - The most tragic instance I have run across in the past few years was a distributor that was religiously making back-up tapes and storing them off site. Then when their computer crashed and they had to restore their data that proudly brought in a tape and thought all their problems had been solved. It was my sad duty to tell them that the tapes they had been creating and storing were TOTALLY BLANK. During the years they had been doing their backups not once had they ever stopped to see if the tapes they were creating were readable! You need to take a backup tape and test it every once in a while. Your system provider should be able to provide you with documentation on how you can verify your backups are valid.

Contact Information For Support Resources - I truly believe that computers have a sixth sense that can detect when the system administrator is away on vacation or a convention. I believe this because it has been proven to me over and over again. Isn't that the definition of the scientific method? When you can re-produce an experiment and it produces consistent results. Well, it never fails that the person in charge of the computers goes out of the office is when the worst problems occur. The first thing you should do is create a contact list with the names and normal and emergency phone numbers of each of your major vendors. The software company, their support number and the pass code they may require to enter a support issue. Also, the phone company or internet service provider and their normal and after hours support numbers, etc.

Don't Get Soaked - An important part of this list of contact phone numbers should be internal as well as external! It's the weekend and you ride over to the office to catch on some work when the phones aren't ringing. As you drive up you notice a trickle of water seeping from under the front door into the parking lot! The sprinkler system broke and flooded the entire building. Could you get the water turned off? Who would you call to begin getting the mess cleaned up? Need to get in touch with the boss on the weekend but he's at his mountain house with the kids! Got that phone number? How about his cell phone? The plumber is coming over but he wants a check for weekend work! What about the CFO's phone number? Don't laugh. This exact thing happened to me a few years ago! And I had no idea how to turn off the water. But the Fire Department did, it only took them 15 minutes to get there and by that time the whole office was ankle deep. Our offices smelled like a wet sock for the next six months. It took that lesson for us to get our emergency lists together.

Then take that list and add some brief "How-Tos". Example: the server needs to be re-booted and no-one knows the proper sequence? The print server needs to be re-set could someone do that if you're on vacation?

Planning For Short Term Interruptions - There are several short-term interruptions you should anticipate so that when they DO occur the interruption to your business will be mitigated.

Interruption In Phone Service - The phones are just a likely to go out as anything else. If you are unprepared you call the phone company and get a vague promise that a service interruption has been reported and a repairman is on the way. You're left to just shrug and head off to the first tee and hope they're back on tomorrow. If you are prepared and have a system capable of some fancy programming you can re-direct the in-bound calls to another branch and use your cell phones for out-going calls. You won't be able to get much done but it sure beats sending everyone home for the afternoon!

Power Outages - The power does go out. In this day and age you're as likely to experience brown-outs as often as black outs. If you are multi-branch operation your central server and data communications equipment should be on battery backup and able to operate independently for at least 12 hours. That should be long enough to get your through to the end of the day. There should be no reason to allow a power problem in one city effect the ability of the other branches to operate.

Summary - Every company needs to have a technology roadmap. This roadmap should consist of two important sections. Where you are now and what you are doing today and where you want to be in the future and how you want to get there. One essential ingredient in any company's technology planning should be preparing for an interruption in service.

About Bob Boyles and Smarter Distribution:
Bob Boyles is the principal of Smarter Distribution in Coppell, Texas, a strategic coaching business focusing on assisting distributors in using technology. He is also the author of "Succeeding With Distribution Technology" a practical how-to guide for selecting and implementing the right technology. You may reach him at (972) 304-1180, via e-mail at bob@smarterdistribution.com or on the Web at www.smarterdistribution.com

© Copyright 2003, Robert S. Boyles Jr. All rights reserved. This article cannot be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part, without the express written permission of Robert S. Boyles Jr.