Implementing The Right Backup Policy

After more than two weeks, many amongst us are still experiencing the effects of the earthquake that struck Taiwan and damaged submarine communication cables. The incident underscores many things. One, it shows the world's dependency on the Internet. Major corporations, banks and consumers had their daily business transactions and routines disrupted. Suddenly, people were not at ease in being unable to access their usual websites and cannot do business transactions at normal speeds.

More importantly, the incident underscores the need to provide backup facilities. The world now realizes that our daily way of life cannot and should not be dependent on a single pipeline that can be destroyed by unpredictable incidents such as earthquakes. Missio-critical transactions such as those of governemtns, banks or even BPO industry are compromised leading to service level shortfalls, revenue losses and inconveniences.

Within the IT industry of developed ecenomies such as the US, Europe and Japan, risk management and disaster recovery are in place. This is most evident in the US right after the 9/11 incident. For many US companies, for example, having several development sites is a must. Hence, many software companies maintain development and delivery centers in locations such as the US, Canada, India, the Philippines, China or even Vietnam. Doing so allows companies to provide and maintain the same service levels even as disasters such as terrorism, natural calamities, political tensions, or, perhaps, Internet disruptions may happen. Perhaps, it is most evident within the service industry where the demand is for non-stop 24/7, 365-days-a-year service.

The need for an effective back-up system does not stop with the Internet facility. Other areas within the IT realm also need similar redundant systems. This would include network facilities, power back-ups, manpower/resource back-ups, hardware server back-ups, and data back-ups. Hence, it has become imperative that much effort and attention has to be given to draw effective back-up systems. This is to ensure a continuous and hassle-free usage of these facilities and in the process ensure continuous service delivery.

by Robert Cheng, appliedtech
from Cebu Daily News
Thursday, 11-January-2007