Supply Chain BCP Scrutiny

Dear BC/DR Planning Colleague:

Economic woes seem to be following us into the New Year. As year-end figures continue to show bleak earnings and shrinking investments, we need to redouble our efforts for our business' survival.

Tough times, however, don't diminish risk of disaster or the need for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning. This is why, as we see our customers concentrating more effort on revenue-producing business, we would like to provide you with a value-added service. In his ongoing work, Tom Abruzzo, our BCM practice consulting leader and President of TAMP Systems, has uncovered 12 common pitfalls to efficient BCP. To help you overcome these, we would like to share them with you throughout 2009 in the form of a monthly e-mail tip. It is our hope these recommendation will help to economize your business continuity planning efforts. If you would like to discuss any of these in more depth, feel free to contact Tom directly at tabruzzo@tampsystems.com or 1-800-252-4080.

Tip #1

Insufficient Scrutiny of Your Business's Supply Chain

Consider this: If one of your mission critical vendors or partners had a disaster, would that cause a disaster for your company? In order for any company to survive, they need goods and services to which they provide their own value-added service. Despite this need, businesses sometimes assume that their vendors and partners will always be available to provide the goods and services they regularly provide. They don't take the time to make certain their key vendors have a valid business continuity plan in place.

Our recommendation:

Ask your mission critical vendors-such as your software vendor or IT provider - about their Recovery Strategies and Recovery Time Objectives. Specifically, if your vendor or partner had a disaster, what recovery strategy would they employ and in what timeframe would they expect to recover? Also, ask them when they last tested the plan and if it was successful. This request for verification should be sent in written form to your key vendors and partners. Then, your vendors should grant access for a personal or online meeting to disclose documented proof. Be aware that if they refuse, it raises a red flag about the existence of this evidence.

We hope this discussion has been of value to you. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Tom directly at 1-800-252-4080 or tabruzzo@tampsystems.com.