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Disaster Planning and Management

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Communications of the IIMA 25 2006 Volume 6 Issue 2 Disaster Planning and Management Holmes E. Miller Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA 18104 Kurt J. Engemann Iona College, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Ronald R. Yager Iona College, New Rochelle, NY 10801
ABSTRACT
Recent events such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, power outages, and the threat of pandemics have highlighted our vulnerability to natural disasters. This vulnerability is exacerbated by many organizations’ increasing dependence on computer, telecommunications, and other technologies, and trends toward integrating suppliers and business partners into everyday business operations. In response many organizations are implementing disaster recovery planning processes. In this paper we discuss how to identify threats and scenarios; how to articulate the disaster recovery strategies; and four elements of the generic disaster recovery plan: Mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. We then provide examples of software that can help disaster recovery professionals in the planning and implementation process. Finally we present some trends that will reinforce the criticality of the issue. Keywords: Disaster Recovery Planning; Business Continuity Planning; Risk Assessment INTRODUCTION Several major natural disasters that have occurred in the past few years have placed disaster management on the front pages: The Tsunami of late 2004, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 affected both life and property and emphasized our vulnerability to natural threats. EM-DAT (2006) figures complied by the Belgian Université Catholique de Louvain’s Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) indicate that: • In 2005 the number of natural disasters was 360, up from 305 the year before. The number

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