With hurricane season less than four weeks away, study results released this week by AT&T reveal that nine in 10 businesses in Miami, Orlando and Tampa have business continuity plans in place. When AT&T last surveyed Miami in 2006, companies there ranked number one in the US for business continuity planning efforts, and the 2009 survey results continue to show that business continuity is a top priority in Florida.

Five Category 3 and 4 hurricanes have hit the Sunshine State since 2004 - all of which have proven to be lessons learned for area companies. According to the AT&T study, six out of 10 companies have had their business continuity plans fully tested in the past 12 months, and more than half (51 percent) have invoked plans citing extreme weather (44 percent), power outages at facilities (18 percent), telecommunications failure (13 percent), IT security incident (12 percent) and IT failures (11 percent).

Companies whose IT operations have been impacted by natural or man-made disasters said the biggest lesson learned was the need to plan ahead and have backup systems in place. Despite decreasing IT budgets, two-thirds (66 percent) of executives responded that their companies are investing in new technologies this year, including new computers and phones (18 percent), software upgrades (11 percent), new servers (4 percent), a new Internet system (4 percent), management software (4 percent) and communications upgrades (4 percent).

The survey also found that nearly half of all companies with business continuity plans require their suppliers and other vendors to have business continuity plans in place as well (44 percent).

According to the study, the vast majority (85 percent) of Florida executives indicate their companies have prioritized and set target recovery times for each of their key business processes, and three-fourths (74 percent) of the executives surveyed said that their companies have systems in place that enable most employees to work from home or remote locations. More than half (55 percent) also have automated calling systems to reach employees by telephone or cell phone outside of work.

Study methodology
The 2009 AT&T Business Continuity Study results are based on an online survey of 101 IT executives in the Miami, Orlando, and Tampa metropolitan areas. The study was conducted by e-Rewards Market Research with companies having total revenues of more than $25 million in the Florida designated market area. Interviews were conducted Feb. 9-14, 2009.

www.att.com

•Date: 8th May 2009• Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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