I remember back some years ago... OK it was not that long ago. The CFO of the company I worked for stopped me in the hallway and asked me if there was a plan to keep business going during a major event. An event like an earthquake, flood, or volcano. I'm in the Hillsboro, Oregon area and yes there are several active volcanos in the area.
My response was that he did not give me enough budget to run my department let alone set up an emergency plan of any sort. But it did get me thinking. Frankly, if a major event did occur, going to work would not be anywhere on my action list.
As a business owner, you have to ask yourself:

• "What are my expectations of my employees, service providers and facilities managers?"
• "At what point recall my employees to work?"
• "What will my insurance cover?"

The time to address questions like these are not during an event!
Time for a little honesty here. Take a good look at your MSP contract. (MSP being Managed Service Provider.) It's what we do. If it is a thorough contract, look under disaster recovery. You should see a cause exempting major events, war and acts of terrorism. If there is no such clause, think of the odds your MSP provider will persuade his workers to camp out at your site for days getting your vital systems up.
I am fully trained in CERT, HAM (RACES and ARES) and most forms of IT disaster recovery. Our clients that are under Datajockeys management all have full documentation of their systems and have realistic expectations that they will be taken care of.
So think a bit and make sure you have practical expectations of how your business is going to recover from a major event.

Tags: Business Continuity, Emergency Preparedness, Disaster Recovery, Personnel Safety, Staffing Expectations