Business Value Balance

Given that you agree with the recent post on every business having the same four core values . . . let’s continue our discussion.

Here’s a diagram for visualization: Business Value Balance.  Each operational value exists in a spectrum (generally from happiest to least happy).  Depending on the current score for each value on their respective spectrum, business is probably good.  Referring to the chart, you can see the business as the core, four-pointed star.  When the staff is happy, the customers are happy, the business is generally likable and its making a profit the business is sustainable.

There’s another star, too:  a red, eight-pointed star.  The eight-pointed star is the zone of risk tolerance. If you chart the scores of the four requirements for sustainability within the level of tolerance, it’s holding steady. If the level of value isn’t meeting or exceeding the least tolerable level, then its a problem.  Simple enough.  When one or more of the scores exceeds the level of tolerance, the business will naturally look for ways to move back toward a balance.

HERE’s THE CATCH: How the business finds its way to pull one score back to center could happen at the cost of another value.  And, if no one’s managing the balancing act, it will be at the cost of another value.  They’re all interrelated so they will all be effected.

If you don’t have plans to deal with keeping the four basic core values in balance, business ends up looking chaotic.  It is constantly in flux, always pulling and pushing at itself.  Costing the happiness of staff, the happiness of clients, likability and profit.  This diminishes sustainability and resilience.

Next blog: keeping the business values at the center of your continuity program.

What do you think?  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Case studies?

 See more at: http://www.dcsplanning.com

A Day without Business Event

It might be an auto repair shop washed away by a flood. A dentist’s office scorched by a fire. A dry cleaner hit by a tornado. A pet store frozen by an ice storm and power outage. There are lots of sorts of businesses, and lots of kinds of disasters, but one thing remains the same: businesses disrupted by disaster permanently close their doors at an alarming rate. In fact, according to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, one in four small businesses closed by a disaster never re-opens.

So, when the unthinkable happens, will you be prepared to lead your business through the crisis? Preparedness is the key! By creating a disaster recovery and business continuity plan, your business can increase its recovery capabilities dramatically. A plan can help you make the right decisions quickly, cut downtime, and minimize financial losses. It can even help you avoid certain disasters through planning and mitigation measures.

The prospect of creating and implementing such a plan can be daunting, but business leaders in Tulsa have a unique opportunity to get a head start on the process by attending A Day Without Business, a business continuity summit hosted by Tulsa Partners’ Disaster Resistant Business Council.

A Day Without Business will take place on Thursday, March 15, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn – City Center in downtown Tulsa. Registration is open through March 2, online at www.tulsapartners.org or by phone at 918-632-0044. The cost for the one-day event is $65, and space is limited.

The event’s opening speaker will be Tulsa Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mike Neal. The luncheon keynote speakers will be Rob O’Brian and Tonya Sprenkle, President and Vice President of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, who will share about their Chamber’s experience with the May 2011 Joplin Tornado.

The lead sponsors for A Day WithoutBusiness are Tulsa Partners’ Disaster Resistant Business Council, State Farm Insurance, TRC Disaster Solutions and Williams. Other participating organizations for the event include the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, Titan Data Services and the Tulsa Health Department.

For more information about A Day Without Business, contact Tulsa Partners at 918-632-0044, tulsapartners@gmail.com, or www.TulsaPartners.org.

Written by guest blogger Jessica Hill

See more at: http://www.dcsplanning.com

A Case Study in backing up data . . . .

We recently formed a relationship to manage the continuity program for a new client. At the start of the discovery phase, we had a hearty discussion about backup practices.  The new client used a well-known and reputable local data backup provider but had not thoroughly fleshed out the agreement or contractual obligations with them. Though our client was very confident in the services they were receiving, after reviewing the contract we were still uncertain how the provider supported testing or recovery of the backup data.

With reservations, but in response to our urging, the client contacted their supplier and, after several weeks and many discussions with varying levels of management – leading up to the owner – he found that, while they were backing up a great deal of data, the backup files were wrong for their core processing system to start recovery.  In fact, key files they would absolutely need during any recovery procedure were not getting backed up at all because they labeled them as “backup files” – not required for critical processing during usual business.  The backup system was simply filtering them out.  Clearly we were not concerned with business as usual!

Though our client had previously felt very sure of their recovery capabilities and had, for several years, paid a first-class disaster recovery provider to back their data up, the system had never been analyzed to recognize its clear flaws.  While the provider was technically holding up their end of the contract, our client would never have been able to recover from any data loss impacting their core system.  Because of a few simple questions and conversations with the back up and core process vendors, this client now has a better sense of certainty with evidence to prove his recovery capabilities!

See more at: http://www.dcsplanning.com