US firms ignoring disaster recovery

Half of companies do not take specific protective action even when warned of an impending disaster

Almost 30 per cent of US-based companies admit to not having adequate plans in place to cope with natural or other disasters, new research has claimed.

Despite the devastating effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, nearly half of the 1,000 companies polled by AT &T do not take specific protective action even when state or federal governments issue warnings for an impending disaster.

Nine per cent of companies hit by recent disasters reported costs of $500,000 a day or more in repairs and loss of business, which translates to a loss of $2.5m a week if normal business operations cannot be restored.

AT&T's 2006 Business Continuity Study found that almost a third of respondents said that their company had suffered from some kind of disaster during the past 12 months.

Over 80 per cent of executives surveyed indicated that cyber-security is part of their overall business continuity plan in 2006, up from 75 per cent in 2005.

Eight out of 10 companies that have a business continuity plan have updated it in the past 12 months, including 48 per cent that say that it has been updated in the past six months.

Of those companies with business continuity plans in place, 40 per cent say that they have not tested their plan in the past 12 months.

Mark Keiffer, chief marketing officer at AT&T, said: "It is surprising how many companies are still putting their businesses and future at risk by not adequately planning for the next hurricane, earthquake or cyber-security hit."