9
Business Continuity
In the past it was mainly human error and natural catastrophes, such as storms, earthquakes and flooding, that posed a threat to the operation of IT systems. In recent years, however, other but not less dangerous risks have been added to the list. The attacks of September 11, 2001, and the more recent denial-of-service attacks point to the complexity of possible threats to the IT infrastructures of companies. Added factors are the ever growing amount of data, new and often stricter regulatory requirements and increasingly more complex IT environments. The risk of making expensive errors increases in this environment.
Continuous access to data is a deciding factor in the continuing existence or failure of an enterprise. It is therefore essential that business operations be maintained on a continuous and loss-free basis even in crisis situations. This is where appropriately designed storage solutions have a role to play. The considerations, operational requirements and technologies needed all fall under the area of ‘business continuity.’ Business continuity encompasses the technical as well as the organisational strategies for guaranteeing continuous and loss-free business operations. Within the framework of this book we will only be able to address some key organisational aspects. We will concentrate on the technical considerations of business continuity.
The aim of this chapter is to discuss the special requirements of business continuity and to present a ...
