business continuity in the information age
TRANSCRIPT
Australasian Business Continuity Summit 2014
Business Continuity in the
Information Age
Anita Gover
Manager, Technology Solutions
Key Themes
Technology in Society
Technology in Business
Technology in Business Continuity
Technology in Society
Society in the Information Age “allows individuals to explore their
personalized needs, therefore simplifying the
procedure of making decisions for
transactions and significantly lowering costs
for both the producers and buyers” (wikipedia)
Mobile technology
As at Dec 2013, Australia has over 30
million mobile phone subscriptions
(133% of population)
Technology in Society
Social Media in society
Just in case you were in doubt on just how big this is…
If Facebook was a country, and its
population made up of its members, it would
apparently be “the third biggest country in
the world” with just over one billion users.
Based on current trends, it will soon overtake
India, and will become the most populated
“country” in the world by 2017.
Technology in Business
Social Media in business Brand recognition
Marketing
Business analytics and “big data”
Reviews, ratings and referrals
Drive sales
Thought Leadership
“Humanises” your organisation
Most organisations now have a social media policy in place.
Ensure the organisation’s social media policy includes a section on
managing social media during a crisis or other business disruption.
Technology in Business
Business and the Information Age:
“a knowledge-based society surrounded by a high-tech global economy that
influences how industries operate in an efficient and convenient way” (wikipedia)
Ever-increasing dependence on technology in almost all industries
Increased productivity and efficiency
Increasingly impatient people
Higher expectations of system RTO’s
RTO = 0…?!
Technology in Business
Virtualisation and “the cloud” have been a game-changer for our industry.
Virtual instances of servers, desktops, storage and networks allow existing
hardware to be utilised efficiently making IT infrastructure more flexible,
scalable, manageable and secure.
Virtual servers are now used by almost 50%
of organisations for storage purposes.
Virtual servers provide an added advantage
of redundancy for disaster recovery
purposes.
Virtual desktops are an enabler for remote
working and as a recovery strategy.
Technology in Business
“The Cloud”! a program or application runs on a connected
server or servers rather than on a local computing
device such as a PC, tablet or smartphone” (wikipedia)
I prefer this metaphor: For a user, the network elements representing the
provider-rendered services are invisible, as if
obscured by a cloud.
Software as a Service (SaaS) is now being used more often by
organisations to reduce costs in hosting and development, and reduce
risk of disruption.
Smaller organisations are using cloud technology to provide more
resilient IT solutions.
Technology in Business
BYOD – Bring Your Own Device
Most of us have our own smart
phone or tablet, so why can’t we
use it?
Security
Governance
Privacy
Support
More organisations are now implementing BYOD policies to enable
employees to use mobiles but still protect the organisation.
There are many other technologies out there that improve redundancy
for business (eg, Global Traffic Management, increased bandwidth, load
balancing, high density computing and software defined networks).
Social media in business continuity can be used effectively as a
communication tool during disruptions.
It is important to include social media in your communications plans.
Key points for managing social media during an incident:
Listen to your audience
Set expectations about the incident
Be honest and transparent
Consider people’s feelings
Keep calm and don’t react to negative comments
Ensure crisis management team is involved from the beginning
Use experienced social media managers
Technology in Business Continuity
Some key points on how to integrate technology with your business
continuity program:
Understand the technology your organisation is utilising
Learn about new technologies that can support business recovery
Engage your IT team and leverage technology to improve your
recovery and develop better business continuity strategies
Be involved in IT decisions relating to recovery
What is your true RTO? What can your IT team commit to?
What RTO do your business stakeholders expect?
Technology in Business Continuity
Technology in Business Continuity
Key technologies impacting the business continuity industry:
Mobile technology improving communications and recovery
Virtual and cloud technology improving IT redundancy and recovery
Business Continuity Software improving planning, transparency of
capabilities and requirements, and response to disruptions
Notifications systems keep staff informed during a disruption
eLearning, and Social Media facilitates better staff awareness
Embracing Technology
What’s next???
More mobile
More social
More virtual
Embrace technology and use it to your advantage!
It can’t hurt…
Australasian Business Continuity Summit 2014
Questions?
Anita Gover
Manager, Technology Solutions
M: 0400 560 030