In this Help Net Security video, Chip Gibbons, CISO at Thrive, illustrates the differences between a business continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan.
“When important systems become unavailable due to infrastructure failure, human error, or a security breach, it can lead to unaffordable business interruption,” said Chip Gibbons, CISO, Thrive, a provider of managed services.
“The best way to ensure an organization is prepared is to have business continuity and disaster recovery plans on hand.”
Watch the Full Webinar Presentation!
Marc Capobianco, EVP of FinTech at Thrive, John Stiles, Founder & CEO of C/Bridge Strategic Advisors and Michael Dale, CFO at Eastward Capital Partners discuss how financial firms need to review and update their business continuity plans to comply with regulators expectations.
Discussion Topics:
- Does the firm have policies, procedures, guidance or other information tailored to address the continuity of business operations during a pandemic?
- Has your firm activated its BCP in response to COVID-19?
- Does your firm’s BCP address the resiliency practices of third-party vendors, service providers and partners?
- How has your firm addressed cybersecurity policies and procedures regarding employee remote access?
- Does your firm have any specific limitations in its ability to operate critical systems and operations during the pandemic?
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Outsourcing has been growing in popularity. It represents an opportunity for companies to expand, as needed, while cutting the costs associated with new technologies and services. Recent studies conducted by Computer Economics, Inc. showed outsourcing made up only 4 percent of IT costs in 2008. By 2009 this percentage increased to more than 6 percent. By 2011, outsourcing IT services made up more than 10 percent of the total IT expenditures, and this trend has only continued in 2012.
This means that choosing the right outsourced IT provider is now more important than ever. There is a lot at stake in terms of business continuity, company productivity, growth of revenue, and company expansion.
Part of choosing an outsourced IT provider is knowing what mistakes to avoid. Investing the time at the beginning means fewer headaches over the long term and minimizing the potential for unexpected costs as a result of making the wrong decision.
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When it comes to keeping your business up and running, it is all about the time factor. Time determines how fast you can recover business operations in the event of an outage or natural disaster. If you have already completed a risk assessment, the business impact analysis ensures that you do not incur additional expenses which can result from slow recovery time.
Although you may have already completed a risk assessment and you know what critical business operations must be recovered, this will not matter unless you can recover them within a reasonable amount of time. By conducting a business impact analysis this will ensure efficient business continuity in the event of a catastrophe.
So what are some of the key components you should consider when conducting a business impact analysis?
The events of September 11, 2001 changed a lot of things including the manner in which businesses assess risk and devise plans to deliver critical services in the event of a disruption. Although catastrophic events have a minimal probability, the businesses that plan carefully for business continuity are the ones that stand the best chance of continuing their services in the event of a disaster.
It does not take a monumental catastrophe to disrupt daily operations of a business. Sometimes it can be something as simple as a power outage or intermediate interruptions that result from a storm or an attack instigated by cyber criminals.
Having a business continuity plan in place means arranging to continue to deliver services which are the most critical to business operations and identifying the resources which are needed to support business continuity. In order for a business continuity plan to be effective there are key critical components that must be present during the planning process.
Network Security in today’s high tech environment is now more important than ever. Hackers and cyber criminals have gotten very sophisticated in the methods they use to carry out exploits. For many companies this means added layers of security and infrastructures which create a network with many different facets.
In today’s economy many businesses do not have the resources which are required to implement the necessary equipment and employ staff with the skills to maintain network security. This represents a very real challenge for companies in terms of data security, business continuity and productivity. This is where network protection services can be invaluable when it comes to protecting company assets. (more…)
With more businesses deploying different types of technology to increase productivity, it can become a monumental challenge to stay current with every IT process that requires support. If you are struggling to keep up with the increased demand for IT, the good news is that there are professional IT support services available that can help you relieve the burden of trying to stay on top of every aspect of your IT infrastructure.
It is important to note that the size of your business will be the key factor which determines the type of IT support you require. If you are a small business it is less likely you have a comprehensive IT support staff. For medium to large sized businesses you may have a partial IT support team or a full-fledged department that may be over extended.
To choose the approach that is best for your business it helps to know what options are available to you when it comes to outsourcing IT support. Many quality IT support services will work with you to plan the best approach however, here is an overview of the different types of IT support services to help you get started.
IT Support for Small Business
While some companies prefer to employ an in-house IT team others find it more cost effective to outsource IT support. This leaves more time for new IT initiatives which support company growth and revenue. Here are some of the ways that you can outsource IT support to a qualified IT support provider: (more…)
Server and network availability is an essential aspect of maintaining business productivity and continuity. IT administrators face many challenges and responsibilities when it comes to maintaining the network and keeping downtime at a minimum. Depending upon the size of the organization there are many components to keep track of such as device management, updates, patching, new application configurations, compliance requirements, and issues that arise as the result of human error or environmental factors. So, what are some of the challenges that IT administrators face and what are some of the ways you can overcome these issues?
For many companies, desktop and end user support can be costly and time consuming. Especially if you have multiple computing environments with a variety of desktop applications and PCs of different models and ages. Although desktop PCs are relatively inexpensive the cost for maintenance and end user support can be as much as five times the cost of the computer.
In the early years of computer technology, costs for desktop and end user support were reduced through (more…)