Business continuity: Tampa-St. Petersburg survey paints a mixed picture

As the 2005 hurricane season rolls in, nearly one out of four businesses in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area are not prepared for disasters. Even in the face of heavy damage from last year’s hurricanes, 24 percent of companies do not have a business continuity plan in place, according to a report issued by AT&T and the International Association of Emergency Managers.

‘Disaster planning in the private sector: A post 9/11 look at the state of business continuity in the US’ surveyed 100 senior technology executives with direct business planning responsibilities in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Nationwide, more than 1500 executives from companies with more than $10 million in annual revenues have been interviewed, representing a broad cross section of industries and markets. 

In the Tampa-St. Petersburg survey, more than a quarter of respondents were directly hit by a hurricane, and 12 percent of these suffered losses of more than $1 million per day. Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne led to a record 1.6 million insurance claims with an estimated gross property loss of $22.8 billion, teaching many companies the hard way the necessity of business continuity planning. In fact, 26 percent of the Florida businesses surveyed reported being hit directly by some sort of disaster.

Despite the downsides, the survey indicates that Floridians are doing many things right. With the majority of disruptive events being caused by violent weather, it comes as no surprise that 88 percent monitor public alert systems, the highest percentage in the national survey. And nearly 40 percent of Florida companies turn to outside service providers to help them with business continuity planning.

Testing is a weak link in business continuity planning
To make sure that business continuity plans are up-to-date and reflect changing circumstances and risks, it is often recommended that they be retested every six months. In the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, only 38 percent of companies surveyed say that they have a plan meeting this standard, with 16 percent having tested their plans more than a year ago and 12 percent admitting that they have never tested their plans.

Information security seen as an important part of business continuity planning
With their increasing reliance on corporate networks, companies face a growing risk that a disaster will shut down not just communications, but the entire operation, putting information security in the spotlight of continuity planning. Fortunately, most Tampa-St. Petersburg companies are prepared to face online intrusions. The report found that 78 percent of the executives surveyed see cyber security as an important part of their business continuity planning, an encouraging finding given that security breeches are known to be a chief cause of business disruptions. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) use an outside service provider to manage their network security.

Overall, Tampa-St. Petersburg companies present a mixed picture in regard to continuity planning. While there is still much room for improvement, many companies do more than their counterparts in other regions. According to the survey, Florida surpasses other markets like Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles where the level of preparedness is lower.

For more survey results, visit: www.att.com/presskit/business_continuity

•Date: 26th May 2005 • Region: N.America • Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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