With the threat of a global flu pandemic looming large, riskmanagers must take steps to maintain timely access to keyenterprisewide data and resources during such a crisis so that adisruption does not devastate revenue streams, undermine clientaccounts or prevent government mandates from being met, all whileprotecting their most valuable assets–their employees.

Developing an effective andefficient contingency plan ensures informational resources areavailable prior, during and following an enterprise interruptionevent.

There are four key components to business contingencyplanning:

o Business Impact Analysis & Assessment (BIA)

o Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

o Business Continuity Plan (BCP-Private, COOP-Public)

o Exercise & Maintenance (Test)

From a contingency planning perspective, a DRP ensures theprotection of data back-ups and safe storage of duplicateinformation (data and paper) so enterprise-critical informationcannot be lost or damaged from an interruption event.

The DRP supports the technical aspects of the informationtechnology department. Equally important, a BCP and/or Continuityof Operations Plan (COOP) ensures the continuous availability ofcritical business processes and procedures. A BCP/COOP is theoperational glue that keeps the doors to an enterprise functionallyopen during unplanned natural, human or technical events upon theenterprise.

Incidents inside and against enterprises occur on a daily basis.Many of these incidents turn into enterprisewide disasters.

Disasters are created due to a lack of contingency planning toeffectively manage an incident. Disasters are borne from threedifferent areas–natural, human and technical. Examples are:

? Natural–floods, tornados, earthquakes, pandemics, severestorms (rain/ice/snow).

? Human–terrorist activity, workplace violence, electronicsecurity breaches, civil disorder, theft.

? Technical–power failure, hardware or software failure,software virus.

For many years business owners and enterprise managers have beendiscussing and planning for technical failures within IT.System-based failures and/or loss of critical data stores haveachieved extensive notoriety across the enterprise.

However, very recently all levels of government have beenwarning the general public of possible out-of-control flu strainsthat could create a pandemic situation.

Two real-life examples of flu strains are Avian Flu (H5N1) andSwine Flu (H1N1). Various flu strains have negatively affectedhuman society for hundreds of years–both physically andmentally.

Today's business environment has significantly changed since thelast widely know pandemic. Gone are the days for a flu strain totravel the world in weeks or months. In today's mobile environmentflu strains can travel from country to country within a few shorthours.

As a result, fears of a new pandemic have become a reality formany business owners and their employees.

The number-one most valuable asset to an enterprise is theemployee. The number-one most expensive asset to an enterprise isthe employee. Hence, without employees there is no business.

The business and its employees can be directly or indirectlyaffected by a pandemic incident. Consider this short list ofindirect dependencies upon the business when developing thepandemic response component of your contingency plan:

o Employees becoming ill while on business travel.

o An employee has a child or children whose school isclosed.

o An employee's direct family member becomes ill and requiresimmediate care.

o The physical premise of key suppliers to the business areplaced under quarantine.

o Public transportation systems are temporarily closed.

When family members become ill someone must help with managingtheir illness. Schools close, transportation systems areinterrupted–it's a top/down pyramid affect that directly impactsthe ability of the business to generate, maintain and managerevenue.

Many enterprise risk managers default to saying “our employeeswill work from home.” This creates a false sense of security thathas multiple pitfalls. These pitfalls are:

o An increase in IT security risks if remote connectivity hasnot been tested and validated for secure transmission of sensitivecontent.

o A rise in capital expenditures within IT to support theincrease of remote workers.

o Current Virtual Private Network (VPN) and/or remoteconnectivity company policies do not support all functions.

o A spiked increase in bandwidth demand on Internetinfrastructure creates bottlenecks to effectively transmitting andreceiving data.

o During normal working hours, employees' time and energy arespent on family medical issues while their job functions take aback seat.

o Many employee functions are heavily paper-based and do notsupport a remote work environment.

To circumvent these pitfalls, contingency planning is a must forany size enterprise. Planning for a widespread flu incident shouldbe a component of every contingency plan–regardless of size andcomplexity.

A vast number of enterprise risk managers, owners and executivestoday are either minimally prepared, have not reviewed theircurrent action plan for four-to-five years, are too busy to developa plan, are short on human resources, or simply don't know how orwhere to begin.

The need for contingency planning and support will continue tointensify as private and public enterprise needs become moredemanding. New and emerging technologies, government regulation,customer and employee demands will further drive this need.

Human, natural and technical incidents consistently loom on thehorizon of every business enterprise. The need for validating keybusiness continuity processes, policies and procedures across theenterprise is increasing and will continue to remain on thecorporate score card.

A resilient enterprise is one that invests in the technical andbusiness process components of contingency planning. Compared tothe alternative, investing in contingency planning is a financiallysound and time efficient choice.

James M. Myers is president and CEO ofContingency Now, with corporate offices in Los Angeles, Calif. Hemay be contacted at 818-510-4939.