With earthquakes, typhoons, two regional viral outbreaks, and the looming shadow of terrorism and war, it seems strange that businesses in Asia need any reminder of the importance of disaster recovery.
But, according to Goh Moh Heng, executive director for the Disaster Recovery Institute Asia, they do.
"Business continuity planning is moving forward, but at a very slow pace," he said.
Many companies are still struggling for survival, explained Goh. And even if they aren't, they may simply be too complacent.
Senior executives in Asia are often aware of the threats, he said, but hold an irrational belief that such disasters will "happen to my neighbour or someone else — but not to me".
Goh sounded his warning today at DRI Asia, a two-day conference on business continuity and disaster recovery which is taking place at Singapore's Suntec City, close to the scene of a disaster that occurred less than a day before.
Last Tuesday, underground construction on the mass transit system had caved in, wrecking a highway, temporarily severing power supply to surrounding areas, and killing one worker. Another three are still missing and feared dead.
"We are not safe anymore," said Goh, reflecting on the growing threats in the Asia-Pacific environment.
Ling Keok Tong, the deputy director of Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority, said in his keynote address that companies can transform business continuity from a cost centre into a competitive advantage.
With a reliable system in place, company executives "can have peace of mind ... and focus on their core business" while allowing them to "deliver uninterrupted services under any conditions", said Ling.
IDA is currently working on a set of standards for vendors of business continuity and disaster recovery services. Expected to be finalised by June this year, one of its recommendations will be to discourage service providers from accepting too many customers from the same building. This will help prevent the provider from being overwhelmed in case of an area-specific disaster, said Ling.
Disaster Recovery Institute's Goh believes that IDA's initiatives will allow companies to find the right service provider more easily. "A disaster recovery and business continuity service is no longer optional," he said. "You will have it."
