Disruptions

As I sit here here this morning with hot coffee in hand, gazing out the window at my wind- and flood-stricken yard resulting from the “NorEaster of 2009,” I cannot help but to reflect on the idea of disaster preparedness. Having personally experienced many such storms, including two major hurricanes, I am still amazed at how life can become so completely discombobulated in such a short order. I am reminded yet once again how we take our everyday routines and conveniences for granted. The simple act of getting out of my neighborhood, for instance, is normally very simple, and very quick. But with today’s storm, all bridges in and out of my hamlet of Great Bridge are closed, and so egress is extremely arduous. Not only that, the question looms: what happens when we lose power? How long will it be out? How disruptive will that be?

After 40 years of life, I have come to a very simple conclusion: these things happen. Accidents happen. Natural disasters happen. Major life disruptions happen. And all of them are beyond our control, or we would prevent them, right? And typically we say “it won’t happen to me!” I’ve said that myself many times in the past, just to be reminded yet again this past Thursday when I set my own kitchen on fire. It was a total accident, but it happened. I never would have expected to start a fire in my kitchen, but thank God I was sensible enough to listen to the experts when they said to keep fire extinguishers in your house – just in case. Because of that, I was able to greatly limit our damage, and prevent the house from burning down.

I think also about Noah of the Bible who God told to build an ark because the flood was coming. Noah could have easily said “Why should I do that? It has never rained before, so why in the world would I waste my time and resources building an ark?” But he did. He prepared. He listened to God – saved his family – and the rest is history.

So I guess the question is this: we know that disasters affect each and everyone of our lives – both personally and professionally – but have we adequately prepared? What if you or your team could not get into the office for an extended period of time? Could they still access your critical business systems and be productive? If you had a fire or flood in your building, would mission-critical business data be lost forever? Is it securely and remotely backed up? Or do you still have the preponderance of your documents and files in paper or non-digital format? If it were digitized, not only could you back it up redundantly across multiple states, but your team could access the data remotely. Or they could telecommute from “higher ground” for an extended period if necessary, with minimal business interruptions, and in some cases, in safer environments.

Many companies today, particularly smaller companies, are reluctant to make the necessary investment required to “go digital” and protect their business assets. The perceived costs involved, and the attitude that “It won’t happen to us” can stymie common sense and good judgment. But the truth is that the loss of time, money and opportunity to rebuild a damaged infrastructure is substantially greater than the managed cost of adequate preparation. Remember, things DO happen. Just ask the folks who went through hurricane Katrina. Will you be ready?

Unity Business Systems delivers Agile ECM (Enterprise Content Management) solutions without disrupting the way you work. Rapid deployment. Streamlined development. Central control over standards, security and auditing, while maintaining flexibility to service individual business units. We make IT easy! for your enterprise to compete and succeed in today’s rapidly changing business environment.

Read our blog at: http://unitysystems.biz/whoisubs/blog.html

I’m writing this article 2 days after Hurricane Irene came through. I have no power or phone service. I charged my cell phone in the car. I will be heading to the library shortly to charge my laptop and use their Internet access.

We were lucky when it came to Irene. We knew the hurricane was coming and had time to plan and prepare. We knew there was a good possibility that we would lose power and maybe even water. We took preventive measures and charged our cell phones and laptops. We made sure we had flashlights and batteries and knew where they were. We filled bottles with water and put away anything outside that could possibly “take flight”.

The storm came and did a lot of damage here in NJ but my house was spared. In the big scheme of things, losing power was just an inconvenience especially since we were prepared.

Fortunately hurricanes don’t happen very often (at least not in New Jersey) and when they do we have plenty of warning. In our businesses we’re not always that lucky. Emergencies tend to crop up all the time.

Some emergencies are good news. For instance, you are asked to fill in at the last minute on a radio show. It’s very exciting but you have only a short time to pull everything together. Or you bring on a new client and find yourself scrambling to get all of the material together so you can get started.

Other times, the emergency is bad news…your ezine is due out tomorrow and you still haven’t gotten the article written. Or you find yourself up against a deadline on a project you are working on.

Running your business from emergency to emergency is exhausting. But I have to ask you…if these types of things are happening again and again are they really emergencies or are they situations that, while they might not occur every day, you have had warning about and should have prepared yourself for?

Here are three areas you can look at to help you prepare so that you and your clients are covered and your business and life will run smoother.

1. Think about your day-to-day schedule. What types of “emergencies” often strike? Sure the specific situation might be unexpected, but I bet there are a lot of similarities between these events. Pay specific attention to when you find yourself saying “UGH! Why does this keep happening?” What can you do to prepare? What tools can you put at your disposal so that your business keeps going?

2. Look at the things you do often. What can you automate or create a system for so that these situations become barely a ripple. Create a “welcome package” for new clients so that sending them information is easy. Create a package of material on the various presentation topics you do so that you can quickly give it to anyone who needs it.

3. What type of true emergency systems can you put in place? If you were called away from your business suddenly do you have support that can cover for you and help you reschedule appointments? Can you automate various communications with prospects and clients? What if you lost power or your computer’s hard drive (I’ve lost 3) or lost your cell phone? Is your computer backed up and do you back it up regularly? Do you charge your phone regularly? Would you have your important phone numbers available?

The bottom line is that there will certainly be true emergencies that force you to stop everything you are doing and focus your attention elsewhere, and you’ll never be able to avoid them all. The key is to do as much as you can to minimize the interruption that they cause.

What can you do to minimize the impact of emergencies in your business?

Carrie Greene is a speaker, trainer, coach and author of Chaos to Cash. She helps entrepreneurs cut through the confusion and chaos surrounding them so they make decisions, stop spinning and procrastinating and make more money. Free resources at http://www.CarrieThru.com

Every business has experienced disruption on some level. There are a variety of factors that could affect business to the point of disrupting the daily operation of work. When this happens, no one is happy. It does not matter if the business is a small mom and pop style company or a large corporation. Business disruption means lost revenues, unhappy clients, irritated suppliers, and often panic.

What can cause a business disruption?

* This may be a simple power outage that prevents computers, phones and other business tools from functioning.

* A computer failure can cause a business to be completely unable to function because nearly every business today is completely reliant on computers for their information.

* A key employee or owner having poor health or expiring unexpectedly can create a business disruption.

* Economic downturn can cause production to cease for any given number of reasons. This could be an inability to sell products, bankruptcy or various other causes.

* Employee strikes can cause a serious business disruption. When this occurs even employees that are willing to work may be unable to do so safely.

Communication Can Be Difficult

Communication is key in nearly every situation. This can be a problem if there are business disruptions such as power outages or computer breakdowns. For this reason you must have a plan for communication during such situations. Informing every one of the disruption and its cause is the first order of business. If your main mode of communication is email and your computer or power goes down, this can create an additional problem.

Because technology has caused most businesses to be virtually dependent upon it for efficient functioning, when it ceases to work business men and women sometimes find that they have a difficult time reverting back to archaic methods.

Always Have a Backup Plan

Most businesses today have a plan in place to operate even when power failures occur. This can be a simple generator or battery back up systems. However, the fact is that other businesses that you rely on may not have these types of systems in place. For that reason, you must have a plan in place to communicate both internally and externally.

This is where crisis management comes into play. A well prepared crisis communication policy will include methods of communication ranging from email, computer, fax, phone, and in the event of total failure personal verbal communication.

It is essential that all parties involved receive clear concise communication regarding the business disruption, a tentative schedule for resuming normal business, and the events that should occur in the meantime. Any crisis management plan that is successful will spend much effort in the area of crisis communication. Those affected by the business disruption will be much more cooperative and understanding if they are kept informed. It is a grave mistake to eliminate anyone completely from the communications loop as it creates animosity and will work against the ultimate goals.

Malcolm Hafner, President of http://www.MissionMode.com, is responsible for direct sales, engineering and customer support. Formerly the CEO and EMEA, he managed the development and implementation of the regional strategy. During his tenure he has brought MissionMode to market earning an enviable list of customers, revenue and reputation.

What occurs when the energy goes out? Energy outage preparation should be part of emergency planning. Ask anyone in California, after the “rolling blackouts” of 2000, 2001 and 2002; or within the Northeast and Canada, when blackouts in August 2003 left a lot more than 50 million individuals without electrical power. The term “brownout” also has become familiar to many; it refers to some power interruption of less than 20 minutes in length.

It typically occurs when the equipment being utilized demands more energy than is obtainable. Brownouts can occur on hot summer days or during winter cold snaps-whenever the equipment is running at full capacity and drawing a maximum load. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports at least two dozen “major disturbances and unusual occurrences” per year that interrupt electrical service. Numerous of them are weather-related, lasting from two several hours to a number of days.

The EIA publishes an interesting monthly report about energy prices, usage, and disruptions that covers both electrical power and gas. It’s available on the internet at eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity. Generac, a Wisconsin-based emergency generator manufacturer, estimates that 38 % of power outages are the result of weather; 26 percent are from utility equipment difficulties or grid overload; 12 percent are from fallen trees on power lines; and 10 % are from animal get in touch with with the lines.

The remaining 14 % are prompted by a variety of human-caused situations, from vandalism to construction errors. A disruption in the energy supply can have costly consequences to some restaurant if it lasts more than two hours. Most potentially hazardous foods (known as PHFs in food safety jargon) could be kept out from the temperature “danger zone” for that lengthy, but no longer. Of course, during an outage, you’ll have no way of knowing how long it will last. Managers on duty should take nine precautions:

1. Record the time the outage began.
2. Take periodic temperature readings (each 30 to 45 minutes) from the foods that was prepared and getting held at the time.
3. Maintain all refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as feasible.
4. Cover any open display cases in which foods is iced or chilled.
5. Used canned fuel (for example Sterno) to maintain hot foods warm. If the temperature of hot food on a steam desk, for instance, drops below 140 degrees Fahrenheit for a lot more than two several hours, it ought to be discarded. If the outage doesn’t last that long, and also the foods has dropped to a temperature of much less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit, reheat it rapidly to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, then hold it at 140 degrees and serve as rapidly as possible.
6. Discontinue cooking and serving if it’s not possible to wash, rinse, and sanitize utensils.
7. Discontinue cooking if there’s not adequate light to allow for safe food preparation, including cleaning and sanitizing food get in touch with surfaces.
8. Do not cook if there is no hot water or if water pressure isn’t adequate.
9. Don’t assume that cooking cold food stored at room temperature for too long will kill any microorganisms and make it secure to eat. That’s not the case. The rule is always “When in doubt, throw it out.”

In areas prone to weather-related energy outages, the buy of the energy generator is an attractive option. If a food service business experiences a lot more than two or three major power interruptions a year, having a backup generator makes sense. The generator can also be utilized for so-called peak having, curtailing power use or shifting to another source to avoid peak loading and the higher costs it entails. The generator can be tied into the primary power grid, and programmed to kick in not just when there’s a energy failure, but whenever demand charges are highest.

In other words, when the electric or gas organization is charging its highest rates, you generate some of your own power and decrease dependency on the utility company, a minimum of temporarily. Noise utilized to be a typical complaint about backup generators, but in recent years, manufacturers have focused on making them quieter and reducing exhaust emissions. They run on natural gas, come in a wide range of power capacities for restaurant use (from 7 kW to 150 kW) and can be matched to nearly any voltage/amperage requirement. Some are created for rooftop installation, to save space.

Generators can also be purchased that conduct their own self-diagnostic and start-up tests weekly, to ensure that they’ll be ready to go to work at a moment’s notice. In big facilities such as hotels, emergency energy systems are incorporated into building design. They are needed by code to have the capacity to handle a sufficient load to meet basic needs in case of a fire or other crisis event, often such as emergency power for elevators.

Franco Zinzi has been involved with online marketing for nearly 3 years and likes to write on various subjects. Come visit his latest website which discusses of Restaurant Fridges and Jenn Air Fridges for the owner of his own business.