With the increasing reliance on today's computer systems and networks for the day to day running of businesses, there is an imminent threat to business continuity. Computer systems can be affected by a variety of sources: power outages, water leaks, systems failures, etc. Most companies have some sort of backup system in place, example UPS for power failure, but fail to take into account other hidden factors. It is no longer a question of if you will experience system or environment failures, but when. The 10-question quiz that follows can assist in assessing your company's risk of experiencing downtime due to system or environment failures.
- How many hours of continual data processing does your business do over a 24 hour period?
Threat: The average company's hourly downtime accounts for $78,000 in lost revenue.?- 8 hours or less (10 points)
- 8 to 16 hours (75 points)
- 16 to 24 hours (100 points)
- How much downtime can your business afford?
Threat: Computer downtime cost US businesses $4 billion a year, primarily through lost revenue.- 1 week to 1 month (10 points)
- 2 days to 1 week (75 points)
- 1 day or less (100 points)
- What is your business system or data worth?
Threat: 43% of U. S. Business never re-open after a disaster experience and 29% close with in 2 years.- $10,000 or less (10 points)
- $10,000 to 100,000 (75 points)
- $100,000 or more (100 points)
- $10,000 or less (10 points)
- How many users does your computer system support?
Threat: The manufacturing industry lost an average of $421,000 per incident of on-line computer systems downtime.- 1 to 10 users (10 points)
- 10 to 100 users (75 points)
- 100 or more users (100 points)
- 1 to 10 users (10 points)
- How much down time have you experienced over the last year?
Threat: The average company's computer system was down 9 times per year for an average of 4 hours each time.- 20 hours or less (10 points)
- 20 to 150 hours (75 points)
- 150 or more hours (100 points)
- 20 hours or less (10 points)
- How many hours is your data center unattended?
Threat: The average company's hourly downtime costs an average of $330,000 per outage.- 1 hour or less (10 points)
- 1 hour to 8 hours (75 points)
- 8 hours or more (100 points)
- What percentage of your systems and environmental conditions (temperature, water, and smoke) are you monitoring with an early detection system?
Threat: Environmental incident's accounted for 10. 3% of business interruptions in the past 5 years.- 90% or more (10 points)
- 70 to 90% (75 points)
- 70% or less (100 points)
- How many hours has your UPS had to back up your system this year?
Threat: Power problems accounted for 29. 48% of U.S. computer outages.- 3 or less hours (10 points)
- 3 to 8 hours (75 points)
- 8 or more hours (100 points)
- 3 or less hours (10 points)
- If your system went down on Friday at midnight, how long would it be before you are notified?
Threat: A 1993 Gallup/GRN survey reported that Fortune 1000 companies average 1.6 hours of LAN downtime per week [that is over 2 weeks per year].- 3 or less hours (10 points)
- 3 to 8 hours (75 points)
- 8 or more hours (100 points)
- 3 or less hours (10 points)
- How many people have access to your main computer room ?
Threat: Human error accounted for 34. 4% of business interruptions in the past 5 years- 3 or less (10 points)
- 3 to 10 (75 points)
- 10 or more (100 points)
- 3 or less (10 points)
Scoring
165 and under: Your computer room is either very well protected or computer room down time will not affect your business.
165-799: You have trouble spots in your computer room, proactive steps taken now will help you avoid trouble in the future.
800 and over: Your computer room and quite possibly your job are in serious jeopardy. Look into ways of securing your computer room before disaster strike's time is ticking.