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August 12, 2007
Personal Continuity - Introduction
Computing professionals hear a lot about the concept of "business continuity," but there is hardly any emphasis on the concept of personal continuity
Microsoft defines "business continuity" as: "The ability of an organization to continue to function even after a disastrous event, accomplished through the deployment of redundant hardware and software, the use of fault tolerant systems, as well as a solidbackup and recovery strategy. "
Makes sense for a business, of course, to have a plan and strategy for when disaster strikes. But what about the individual? We who live in cities like New Orleans, where disaster is more than a theoretical concept, understand the need for disaster recovery at the personal/family level. These plans used to include grabbing the photo albums and other keepsakes when evacuating in the face of a hurricane. Now they include bringing the external hard disk, stacks of CD/DVD-ROMs, flash drives, you get the idea.
Having the data is a good first start, since that means recovery is possible. But what about continuity? In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of families were displaced for weeks to months. Employers were scrambling to re-assemble their staffs. Mobile phones in the New Orleans metro (504) area code were often unreliable in the first month post-storm. The Internet was a very important lifeline to many in terms of maintaining personal continuity.
Hurricanes and earthquakes are extreme examples of the need for a personal continuity plan. There are less extreme possibilities, however, that can be just as problematic if we're caught in them. Consider this scenario: You're sitting in your cubicle atwork when your manager calls you into her office. She informs you that the company is performing a series of layoffs and you are one of them. A representative from corporate security joins the meeting, to escort you off of the premises once you've cleaned out your desk. You're not allowed to access your computer; all you're leaving with are the family photos and desktop knickknacks you've accumulated over the years.
The loss of personal data on that work computer can be as much of a continuity problem as being displaced after a natural disaster. You've relied on that computer to store a number of personal items, such as your e-mail address book as well as various documents and spreadsheets.
Certainly you can re-create this data, but it's going to take time, and we all know the old saying about time being money. You've just been laid off; the faster you get moving, the faster you can recover.
The first step in developing a personal continuity strategy is to create a personal on-line presence. You need a "virtual desktop."
Posted by Edward J. Branley at August 12, 2007 9:08 PM
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