In the survey of U.S.-based senior executives, about one-half (46 percent) of the respondents indicate their companies are more prepared compared to last year in their ability to access business-critical data in the event of a disaster. Yet, almost four in 10 (39 percent) respondents provide grades at a C or lower for their capabilities, citing deficiencies such as inconsistent practices, lack of preparedness and competing priorities.
The percentage of senior executive respondents giving low grade ratings is increasing, compared to similar surveys from the last two years. In 2004, only 24 percent of respondents graded their organizations at a C or lower, unveiling the disturbing trend that U.S. businesses are getting worse at disaster preparedness, not better.
The survey also exposed doubts about how well businesses understand avian flu pandemic preparedness planning. Forty-two percent of respondents indicate their disaster recovery plans would not work if there should be an avian flu pandemic.
Only one in four respondent companies (26 percent) has a formal avian flu pandemic preparedness plan in place to protect their workforce and business in the event of an avian flu pandemic. Even more concerning was the finding that email and telecommunications are the two systems that most frequently experience unplanned disruptions as a result of a cyber attack, power failure or other disaster (53 percent and 46 percent respectively.) Yet 79 percent of respondents believe their technology systems are sufficiently set up to ensure continuous access to business-critical data should their staff be dispersed due to a flu pandemic.
"According to the Federal Government's National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, it is predicted that organizations could face 40 to 50 percent absentee rates during an avian flu pandemic and the recent survey results show businesses are still not doing enough in their preparations," said David Palermo, vice president of marketing at SunGard Availability Services. "A flu pandemic is precisely when effective email and telecommunications systems will need to be available to keep a dispersed workforce connected so businesses can keep on running--and organizations need to have their avian flu pandemic plans in place, now."
Other survey highlights include:
- 95 percent of respondents overwhelmingly agree the tolerance for business systems downtime has narrowed, 28 percent cannot tolerate less than one hour of unplanned downtime
- 42 percent have increased spending to reduce the risk of loss of access to business-critical data during a disaster while the remaining respondents' budgets have mostly stayed the same, compared to one year ago
- 40 percent of respondents cite financial restrictions as the chief barrier that hinders them from making uninterrupted information availability, business continuity and disaster recovery planning a priority; 46 percent say other priorities take precedent
- 40 percent of respondents indicated order entry or customer service systems are where downtime is least tolerated. By comparison, only 2 percent mentioned quality assurance or regulatory compliance systems
