Information Assets are Key to Disaster Recovery

PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION ASSETS

Information assets (Data, Contacts, agreements, financial records etc.) are in fact any entity's most valuable asset and should be regarded in the same way as any other corporate asset. As such, they must be protected by management. This requires a managerial understanding which integrates business and technological perspectives.

To reference protection is to imply an environment of risk, and therefore management of this risk is necessitated. Risks such as disasters and mismanagement are inherent in the corporate world. Randall Miller, in the November 1989 issue of Contingency Journal, explains that we must exercise our "duty of trust" and "duty of care" and apply the common-law standard of the "prudent man rule" to our management of information assets.

By pushing disaster-recovery planning to top management as "a responsibility prudent men would exercise," we are, according to Miller, exerting, "...reasonable efforts to investigate and become informed about the condition of the corporation, its assets and the conduct of its affairs.” Statutory and common law require this standard of behavior from officers, directors, and managers.

Don't be liable. Not having a plan in place is poor business at best and negligence at worst.  Physical segregation of your company's information assets from it's normal daily operation is the first step. Backup tape rotation, off-site documents storage, and a managed retention schedule facilitate seamless continuity in case the unthinkable does happen.  Your organization will be able to survive and make it through a disaster such as fire, tornado, or flood. Having all your eggs in one basket has never been a good strategy. Don't be the business that keeps all it's records in the attic or basement and it's back up tapes in the bookkeeper's desk drawer.

As Miller says, "Corporate officers, managers, and agents who fail to take critical action ... may be held personally liable to their corporations under ordinary principles of agency law." Exercising good judgment that accepts the possibility of a disaster and the need for recovery is as important as buying insurance and for the same reason.  Given the human tendency to look on the bright side, many business executives are prone to ignore "disaster recovery" because disaster seems an unlikely event.  Those that do not have a plan do so at their own peril and that of their employees, stakeholders, patients, clients and customers. Your Corporate Counsel, CPA, and Risk Managers should work together so that continuity is not a nightmare endured during crisis. Call 334-396-5430 or visit www.admiralrecordsmanagement.com and we can work together to create a plan.