Business continuity and disaster recovery: Enhancing enterprise resiliency for the power and utilities industry

Utilities traditionally have responded well to localized emergencies, such as power outages caused by storms. However, there is always the threat of a natural disaster, as demonstrated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the multi-region US 2011 summer storms. In addition, there’s also the possibility of physical or cyber security attacks.

In this environment, business continuity is becoming a growing part of government based preparedness initiatives. Effective business continuity and disaster recovery plans should address:

  • Managing the crisis response efficiently
  • Protecting employees and company assets
  • Keeping the business running
  • Keeping technology operational
  • Validating business continuity program effectiveness

By taking a broad, strategic view of business continuity and disaster recovery planning, utility companies address multiple business and technical challenges to meet their strategic objectives:

  • Reduction of the impact of business interruptions through the identification of “mission critical” business processes.
  • Rapid availability of management decision-making capabilities and communication.
  • Balanced recovery strategy options, with a cost-benefit analysis.
  • Reduced risk of potential loss of revenue and assets.
  • Improved alignment of application system and technology service resiliency and recovery capabilities with organization's requirements.
  • Mitigated risk and improvement of recovery times.