October 20168 WHY DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN FAILS WHEN A DISASTER STRIKES? By Sidney Hui, Sidney Hui, Asst GM, Group IT, HKR International, Group IT, HKR InternationalWorse could go WorstThe cornerstone of IT services is availability. For many industries, IT systems and applications must run non-stop around the clock in the modern world. A serious breakdown does not just result in the loss of revenue and damaging the image of the brand in the process, it may cause havoc to the general public if it's a nationwide catastrophe like the recent (8-8-2016) Delta Air Lines data center power outage event in which over 650 flights were canceled and thousands more were delayed. This was not the end of the chaos. It has a ripple effect affecting the schedules of the flights in the following days. It took so much time to resume normal when all the backlog of stranded passengers was re-booked to other flights after the systems were brought back online. Other airlines were also affected with connecting flight passengers from Delta. When the world is ever more connected than before, the consequences of such catastrophes could be staggering and far fetching.Plan for the UnplannedIn view of the risks associated, organizations have spent considerable investment in redundant hardware, software and infrastructure to protect against failure as such. CIOs certainly understand the importance of disaster recovery facilities readiness and vendors have loads of armory to sell under their wings. `Recovery as a Service' (RaaS) is now available as a cloud service. Choices and options abound in the market cater for various disaster scenarios and different levels of risk mitigation strategies. Business Continuity Planning (BCP) goes hand in hand with Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP). They are of equal importance when a disaster occurs with the latter being more related to IT in general. In some organizations, the terms are used interchangeably to refer to the same thing.Enough is not Always EnoughWith all these plans developed, IT redundancy and backup equipment installed (or Recovery as a Service adopted), are organizations immune from the onslaught of those disasters? Traded on the Stock Exchange under the stock code of 00480, the Hong Kong based HKR International works in real estate development & investment, property management, & Healthcare services in Hong Kong and Asia. IN MY OPINIONSidney Hui
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