I live in San Francisco. And as anyone even remotely connected is aware, today is the 100th anniversary of “The Big One”, the 1906 Earthquake that essentially destroyed my city. It has also been a very interesting few weeks leading up to this anniversary since local media has been swamping us with historical fact, stories, nostalgia, and reprints of newspaper cover stories following the event. It is truly hard for me to imagine living through the devastation, destruction, and despair that occurred 100 years ago today. A special edition of the San Francisco Chronicle today, chronicled the devastation. That story, written 100 years ago, essentially said San Francisco ceased to exist. That story was wrong.

Fast forward to 2006. Those of you that know me well also know that I’ve made a bit of a career on the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity circuit. (A few ex-managers of mine might even emphasize the “disaster” word and I would just hope they don’t post those opinions in public.) But disasters, unfortunately, are part of our existence on this small planet of ours. We also have, fortunately, a long history of ultimately absorbing these disasters and moving forward. In 1990 I stood amongst the devastation on Mt St. Helens with my son, and observed substantial vegetative growth through the ashes. Anyone visiting San Francisco today would see no indication (save a few plaques and monuments) that the city was “destroyed” 100 years ago. Everyone in San Francisco, and the greater Bay Area, knows that the next “Big One” is only a minute away. Our last major earthquake in 1989 was 1/30th the strength of the 1906 quake. It has never been a question of “if”, only of “when”, and no one truly believes we’re ready for, and prepared for, this eventual repeat disaster.

But this writing is not only about the “Big One”, but the “Big Easy”: New Orleans. This is, at least in the US, the site of our last major natural disaster. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the greater Gulf Coast, inflicted similarly catastrophic damage to a very wide region. In a prophetic moment last summer, I was invited to speak at a conference in New Orleans next month (Continuity Insights, May 8-10). Little would I know that a month later, the region would be devastated by Katrina. While mesmerized by the television coverage, I thought that certainly the conference would be cancelled or moved, but I’m happy to say that it has not, and given the topic – Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity – I can’t think of a more appropriate site. The attendees will still, no doubt, tour the areas still in ruins, and maybe that will instill in the people the importance of disaster preparedness. To me, the conference is the business equivalent of the tiny plants pushing through the ashes on Mt. St. Helens. New Orleans is still (not “was”) a special city that will celebrate a similarly special anniversary 99 years from now, just like my city.

But there is a point to my diatribe on disasters. We tend to focus, rightfully so, on the human loss and impact. This is the way it should be. But what about the impact on business? Too many companies I talk to are completely unprepared. Disaster preparedness is too often viewed as having your personal resume stored on a hard drive outside of the datacenter. Or, perhaps, it’s viewed as a rather pricey “insurance policy” for something we all hope will never happen. But they do happen; they have happened in the past and they will happen again. The question is whether you believe you are prepared. Technology today allows for data protection at remote distances. We should all seriously consider this. Otherwise, tomorrow’s headline might have your company’s name in it. Or, if you kept a copy of your resume in a safe place, you might not care.

I’ll blog more about this in the days and weeks to come. But, I think too many of us underestimate the impact of the inevitable. This stuff really does happen. It’s really only a question of “when”.

Comments RSS