What can we learn from Katrina?

A comment by Paul F Kirvan, Editor-in-Chief, CPM Global Assurance.

Once again, the business continuity profession faces a challenge of unprecedented proportions in Hurricane Katrina. While we as a profession offer our prayers and condolences - as well as our years of expertise - to those in the affected areas, we must wonder about the short- and long-term effects Katrina will have on business continuity.

The September 11, 2001 tragedy was certainly a major wakeup call for America. But the business continuity industry - with only a few exceptions - really didn't experience a major boost in business. Last year Florida endured four major hurricanes in fairly rapid succession. And last December the South Asia tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people and damaged a vast area. What happened to business continuity after that?

We have just witnessed one of the worst natural disasters in modern times. Virtually the entire infrastructure in New Orleans and other cities in the area has been destroyed. What are the chances that businesses in the city and surrounding area will recover? Clearly in the short term the focus will be on rescue and recovery efforts. The mobilization effort at local, state and Federal levels is growing exponentially. In the long term we must face the reality that the Gulf coast region will probably take years to fully recover and rebuild - as President Bush said in his Wednesday message to the nation about emergency efforts in the region.

Will an event like Hurricane Katrina open the eyes of business leaders - finally - to the importance of business continuity management? How can we as business continuity professionals take advantage of the lessons to be learned from this tragic event?

We have seen that, acknowledging 9/11, last year's hurricanes in Florida, and the South Asia tsunami, our planning must focus at a higher level when considering the potential severity of natural and man-made disasters. And there are certainly many areas in this country that are regularly face-to-face with Mother Nature's most destructive forces.

Could we be entering a new era where natural disasters are more severe than in recent memory? If this is the case, then there's no better time for business continuity and continuity of operations (COOP) programs. As professionals we must revitalize our efforts to spread the message about the benefits of business continuity and COOP.

http://www.contingencyplanning.com

•Date: 6thSeptember 2005 •Region: US/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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