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Volume 4, Issue 6 - July/August, 2009 - © 2009 by Moose Logic, All Rights Reserved
Cover Story: Disaster Recovery Planning Guide
Does Your Company Ship More Than 1,000 Packages Per Month?
Need a Secure Way to Archive Your Business Records?
Thunderstorm Safety
August Is Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
U.S. Flag Trivia
Moose Logic Coming Events
July Recommended Reading
(Moose Views is a monthly newsletter prepared by Moose Logic to bring you information and tips on maintaining a trouble-free network)
Disaster Recovery Planning Guide
(Book Review by Garry Corbin)“Yes, you should sweat the small stuff!” With those opening words to the first chapter of Prepare for the Worst, Plan for the Best: Disaster Preparedness and Recovery for Small Business, Donna R. Childs sets the theme for her book. She emphasizes that even the smallest unexpected “disaster” can devastate a small business. And she explodes the myth that preparing for the worst-case scenario automatically subsumes preparation for all lesser risks. The author believes:
- It is not a very efficient way to run your business,
- It induces planning paralysis,
- It distorts assessments of risks, and
- It fails to provide for the benefits of responsible behavior.
Often business owners forego disaster planning, believing that disasters are catastrophic and beyond their control. This book points out that it is frequently the mundane human error variety that will prove “disastrous”. The author has separated the frequency and severity of disasters into six categories:
- Human Errors: These errors can reduce productivity and increase the costs to your business.
- Equipment Failures: Equipment is prone to breakage and failure, so you should anticipate that your business will be affected by this event.
- Third-Party Failures: Included here are electrical power failures, loss of phone and/or Internet services and the delivery of other services that you need to operate.
- Environmental Hazards: These are all conditions that prevent you from entering your regular business premise, such as hazardous substances, irritants, pollutants and contaminations.
- Fires and Other Disasters: These are events that are destructive to your office and, hence, your IT infrastructure.
- Terrorism and Sabotage: These events can be the most threatening because they are based on malicious intent.
A contingency plan will help your business develop strategies to protect your business against a variety of unpredictable disasters. Any company, regardless of its size and financial resources, can take steps to significantly improve the protection of its business in the case of a disaster. The contingency plan can be broken down into three major components. First, prepare by determining assets that are critical for protection, establish general protection measurements, take precautions to avoid specific disasters and mitigate potential damages. Next, use your plan to respond once a disaster has struck, knowing your main goal is to remain composed. And last, work together to recover, being cognizant that your business recovery can be confounded by emotional and psychological consequences.
Contingency planning should expand your awareness of the potential threats to your business. But it should also educate your business on what resources can be leveraged to help with planning, protecting and recovering. The book presents several online information sources as well as suggesting working with different types of vendors. These vendors include your power, phone and Internet provider and IT consultants.
This book should prove very helpful in providing the impetus to begin your business contingency planning, although I did not agree with all of the author’s suggestions. Some seemed impractical for businesses with ten or more employees, while others may prove harder (or more expensive) to accommodate than she suggests. But her research does create a strong framework to build your own unique plan. In conclusion, three thoughts from the author that bear serious consideration:
- Everyday disasters can have serious consequences,
- Tackle risks one step at a time, and
- Preparation pays!
Does Your Company Ship More Than 1,000 Packages Per Month?
If so, you may want to check out Enroute Systems Corporation’s Shipping Analytics Dashboard. It’s a Web-based Portal that shows shipping patterns, exceptions, and cost-saving opportunities.According to Lee Hudson, a long-time “Friend of the Moose” who recently joined Enroute, more efficient shipping practices can help business save up to 50% of their annual shipping costs.
There’s nothing to install — the Dashboard is a hosted service.
For a no-obligation trial, go to: www.enroutecorp.com/trial.aspx
Need a Secure Way to Archive Your Business Records?
Washington Archives Management is an expert in archiving, accessing, and managing business information, with over twenty years of expertise in serving clients in the Puget Sound Area.Same-day delivery services, imaging on demand, digital database development, secure records centers, and reliable customer service have made them a leader in providing competitive alternatives to self-storage.
We know they’re good, because we know of other Moose Logic customers who use their services. And we know their IT infrastructure is solid, because we built and support it!
Find out more at: www.washingtonarchives.net.
Thunderstorm Safety
We don’t have too many thunderstorms here in the Seattle area, but in case you’re headed into the mountains, or are planning a vacation to a part of the country where summer thunderstorms come along like clockwork, here are some safety tips from the National Weather Service.Lightening is one of nature’s most powerful and unpredictable killers. Almost any outdoor activity—from golfing, swimming, or boating, to bike riding or mowing the lawn—can be dangerous. So when the sky begins to rumble:
Listen Carefully
If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning. Go to safe shelter immediately. Counting the seconds between thunder and lightning is not a reliable means of determining distances.
Find Shelter
If you are caught in a storm, look for a sturdy building or car. Avoid small sheds and solitary trees. If you are waiting out the storm in a car, keep the windows up and the doors shut. If you cannot find shelter nearby, look for a low spot away from any trees, fences, or metal poles. If you are in the woods, stay near shorter trees. However, be aware of the danger of flash floods. Move to higher ground if you are in an area that begins to flood or is threatened with flooding. Most flash flood deaths occur in cars. Abandon your car if water is rising. If you are caught in an area without shelter, squat low to the ground a nd stay on the balls of your feet. Put your hands on your knees and place your head between them. You are trying to make yourself the smallest target possible. Never lie flat on the ground—that makes for a larger target.
August Is Children's Eye Health and Safety Month
Most eye problems are correctible if they are detected and treated early. More than 12 million school-age children have vision impairment and one in 20 has a vision problem that can cause permanent sight loss if left untreated. Untreated eye problems can worsen and lead to other problems in learning, personality, and adjustment to school.Possible signs of eye trouble in children include:
- Eyes that don't line up
- Eyelids that are red, crusted, or swollen
- Watery or inflamed eyes
- Excessive eye rubbing
- Trouble reading or doing close-up work
- Excessive blinking
- Blurry vision
- Squinting
- Itchy eyes
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Double vision
U.S. Flag Trivia
Betsy Ross was reportedly able to create a 5-pointed star from a single sheet of paper with one cut.The first U.S. flag had 13 stars, representing the 13 original colonies. The second flag had 15 stars, as more states entered the union. Often states came in groups, so there were no U.S. flags with 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 39, 40, 41, 42, or 47 stars.
New U.S. flags can be introduced only on the Fourth of July.
No U.S. flag ever becomes obsolete. Each of the 27 flags is still a legal U.S. flag and may be flown at any time.
A person who is an expert in the history of flags is called a vexillologist.
Flagpole sitting was a craze started in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1929. "Shipwreck" Kelly became famous for setting several flagpole-sitting records. He sat for 49 days on one flagpole and once estimated that he spent a total of over 20,000 hours sitting on flagpoles.
If you are supposed to fly a flag at half-mast, and your flag isn't able to be moved up and down a pole, you should place a black ribbon on the flag instead.
Gold fringe is allowed on U.S. flags, but should be limited to flags that are to be flown indoors.
