Business Continuity
Information protection and disaster recovery are crucial in
today's global environment. In a turbulent economy and an
uncertain world, new laws and regulations force businesses to
rethink and reprioritize their strategies for Business Continuity.
Regardless of the source of business disruption-power outage,
storm, fire, earthquake, computer crimes, or even terrorist
attacks-boards now hold executives directly responsible for
company's success in responding to such challenges.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has explicitly mandated viable
disaster recovery plans and data protection for public companies.
Private and public companies alike have a heightened awareness of
risk management and liability issues in the information technology
(IT) sector, due to 9/11 and the numerous recent financial
scandals that have focused scrutiny on Business Continuity and
executive liability. A strong Business Continuity strategy,
however, will protect your business and reduce your risk of
liability in the event of a catastrophe. Business Continuity is
simply the uninterrupted provision of operations and services to
customers, united with continuous accountability for key
decisions. It requires more than just data preservation and the
restoration of data systems-an entire plan must exist to maintain
and restore the functions of a business on every level, keeping
it viable, functional, and profitable.
It's never been more critical to implement best practices and make
Business Continuity a core part of your company's culture. Today's
issues require comprehensive, farsighted strategies that identify
potential risks, include a detailed but accessible plan, and
incorporate thorough testing of that plan-while addressing areas
of data, applications, network connectivity, business processes,
and even human resources.
The core question of Business Continuity is of prime importance:
Will your company survive a catastrophe, or will it become a
casualty? Prior to an event, your company needs Operational
Resilience-a secure, resilient infrastructure, with strong
security and preventive services. In the aftermath, the situation
demands Disaster Recovery-asset recovery and replacement, and the
capacity to quickly and efficiently restore the processes that
make your business happen. And an overarching necessity before,
during, and after a business catastrophe is Data Continuity-a
solid plan for your organization to follow, reliable network
computing, and the dependable ability to backup and restore
crucial data. These three elements are the pillars of Sun
Microsystems' Business Continuity Solution.