Cloud Computing: Some things to consider

Today, many people have business continuity/disaster plans, but they may not review and update them on a regular basis, which can lead to serious problems. When you first wrote your plan, did you consider that one day much of your data would/might be in the cloud? Did you plan for what you would have to do in the event your cloud vendor went out of business? If not, and you have a private or public cloud vendor (or are thinking about going to the cloud), you may want to read on.

The best time to prepare for getting data out of the cloud is before you put it in there. (Item #1)   Before you move to an online storage provider, there are some things you should know (and ask) about cloud storage and recovery. (Item #2)    When you’re putting a lot of systems into the cloud, you should consider a number of things. (Item #3)

Here are some of the pros and cons of whether you should do all your computing in the cloud. (Item #4)   This article describes some of the risks and things that might go wrong with cloud computing. (Item #5)   Although the benefits of SaaS are hard to ignore, there are risks inherent in the cloud. (Item #6)


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Workplace Violence

Various types of workplace violence, including active shooters, have been on the rise in recent years and many end in fatalities. What have you done to prevent acts of workplace violence in your organization? Do you identify risks for violence on a regular basis? Do you have a policy for employees to report concerns about specific employees? Once you read this week's articles, you might want to look again at what you're doing and see where you might improve.

According to the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, nearly 2 million workers count themselves as victims of workplace violence each year, with 403 Americans murdered at work in 2014 alone. (Item #1)   Employers can take steps to reduce the risk of violence and educate workers. (Item #2)   employers need to be extra-sensitive in handling certain employment decisions (like announcing layoffs, wage reductions or making changes to health care coverage) during an economic downturn. (Item #3)

An increase in workplace violence requires a proactive approach to reduce the risk. (Item #4)   Last year's shooting of two journalists by a former co-worker on live TV in Virginia is a stark reminder that a worker may become violent. (Item #5)   Workplace Violence Specialists will advise you that there are important steps organizations can take to improve their ability to predict workplace violence, but, in the end, you are faced with mitigating as many of the risks that you can identify and hoping you have done enough. (Item #6)

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Testing/Exercising Your Plan

We probably cannot count the number of times we have said that you cannot rely on a plan that hasn’t been tested – or asked if you want to use a plan for the first time in the midst of a disaster. This week’s articles echo those sentiments and can help you design and implement your own exercises for your various plans.

Just because all the relevant information has been catalogued doesn't mean you can actually recover whatever it is your Plan says you can. (Item #1)   Here’s some advice on how to set up convincing business continuity exercise scenarios. (Item #2)   The only way a company can assure that its BCM arrangements are validated is through exercises. (Item #3)

This article addresses some of the technical challenges faced in end-to-end disaster recovery exercises that attempt a full life cycle of transactions across disaster recovery applications and their dependencies and simulate business activities during the exercises. (Item #4)   Business continuity drills are the key to detect, address, and strengthen that weakest link. (Item #5)   Here are some tried-and-true procedures for business continuity exercises. (Item #6)