Human Element Absent from Disaster Recovery Planning

By Greg McNevin

November 12, 2007: According to a new study from SunGard Availability Services, disaster recovery planning is failing to take staff into account when preparing for the worst.

The report claims that while companies are getting better at putting together contingency plans for business continuity, these are often made under the assumption that everything will be “business-as-usual” when it comes to staff availability.

SunGard says that human resource disaster recovery planning encompasses not just having a backup site available, but also how to handle staff confusion, transportation and communication breakdown. The company also highlights ways to cope with reduced or missing staff should disease or another tragedy strike and interrupt business processes and the supply chain.

“Business continuity is not only about IT. There needs to be a human recovery plan, and it should involve human resources and facilities managers,” said Peter Thomson, director of the Future Work Forum at Henley Management College during a SunGard-sponsored roundtable last week. “People need to be managed like a resource, but companies tend to assume staff will always be available.”

SunGard says that the human element, while often overlooked, is by far the most important factor to take into account during business continuity planning. Should disaster strike, it recommends that regular contact with staff is maintained to reduce confusion, that staff are trained on how to deal with IT downtime, what to do during relocation to backup premises or when working from home during an emergency, and how to manage trauma.

After all, you can have the most efficient back up site in the world set up, but this does little good if you have no staff ready to make use of it.

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