Business continuity 'essential for all firms'

Firms of all sizes should consider business continuity planning to be an essential task, it has been claimed.

Writing for Computer Technology Review, Mark Teter, chief technology officer at the Advanced Systems Group, said it is too late to make such plans once a disaster has struck.

He stated: "When an emergency hits, you need the right people and the right data in the right places fast," he said, in comments which could urge firms to consider shared hosting.

"Business continuity planning is a serious enterprise business planning initiative on which the very survival of the organisation rides. Senior management and employees must be involved and committed to the plan."

Mr Teter commented that firms of all sizes require disaster recovery plans, not merely those with large operations.

Writing for the New York Times, small business commentator Jennifer Walzer recently warned that many firms are continuing to work without taking such precautions.

She said that many firms see the processes of developing plans internally as being tedious and time-consuming, leading them to take unnecessary risks.

Written by Tim Dunton