According to the Disaster Recovery Journal, an estimated ,000 per hour is lost due to system downtime. So having calculated the losses incurred due to various natural disasters in the absence of such a service, approximately 40% of all businesses have now made disaster recovery services an essential part of their systems. A recent study also showed that 90% of businesses could fail within 5 working days unless they are able to continue doing business after a disaster.

Data transfer to remote site using Internet VPN technology is secure and is HIPPA compliant. Using the right disaster recovery plan will help you:

Replicate your mission critical data to a secure, remote data center in real time.
Mirror your mission-critical IT systems at a remote data center (a hot-site) and you can switch to the mirrored site if your server goes down.
Protect against potential threats.
Minimize disruption and operational losses.
Manage the recovery operation in an organized and effective manner.
Restore and build back confidence of investors, stakeholders and customers.
Improved brand value, business image, customer loyalty and employee morale through professional disaster response and disaster management
Reduces the probability of occurrence.
Protect the assets of the organization.
Minimizes decision-making during a disastrous event an legal liability.

A business continuity disaster recovery solution provides a host of services to ensure business continuity through restoration of data. Utilizing the best Disaster Recovery solution allows its customers to focus on their core business while letting the service provider manage them for a fixed, predictable monthly fee.

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Just like the other protections, we must have insurance (income stream), supplies (cash available to outlast a financial storm) and an escape plan (for when you have no other options). This plan will see not only through natural disasters but through financial and life disasters. Let’s get our plan together.

How do you pack and escape bag for financial disasters. In short what this means is to bring all of your personal and financial life together and having backup copies that you store somewhere safe. Store things like your financial documents also things like photos and videos of your assets in the same safe storage.

At first this will seem like an over whelming task but once you have all of your records up to date then it is only a matter of keeping everything current.

Although this is not an exhaustive list it will give you somewhere to start:

· Birth, death and marriage certificates

· Social Security Cards, passports and credit cards

· Medical records, identification (drivers license)

· Recent bank statements, copies of you mortgage(s) and property deeds

· Car titles, insurance policies and insurance contact information

· Three years of the most recent tax returns

· Wills trust and powers of attorneys

· Names and contact numbers of executors, trustees and guardians

· A list of financial advisers along with contact information

· All user id ‘s and passwords

· A household inventory with cost and age along with a description

· Copies of receipts for expensive items and items that hard to replace.

Store these items either in a safe deposit box or in a secure online backup service.

If at all possible use both.

Next is to have backup supplies. This will mean to have at least 6 months worth of monthly cash easily available. When your income is destroyed your personal finances are immediately in danger of being destroyed. If you are not prepared it may take up to 10 years to recover.

You should have at a minimum 6 months of income in an account that is readily available. Do not just put 6 months worth of expenses in this account but your full income of 6 months. This way if you have to draw it out to a full year you can lean out your expenses and survive.

Be prepared during this time to take on part time work and odd jobs to keep from using all of your cash on hand because when the crisis is over you will have to replace this cash again.

Finally, how do you have an insurance policy to prevent a personal finance disaster? Create a second income or even a first income that you are in control of and that will continue to provide you income no matter what happens in your life. Learn to invest in yourself and to be in charge of your own destiny.

Today more than ever, you can be a small business owner whether it is something you do part time from home or with an online virtual business. These types of businesses require very little startup capital but do require that you invest time and energy.

Find something that you love to do and can have fun at. If you love it someone else will as well and they will want to know what you know. What better way to weather a storm than doing something you enjoy.

This will also grow your savings and help you to build a retirement plan for later in life when a disaster would be harder to escape. Always think to the future.

To find out more tips on your personal finances and retirement planning and savings planning see the resource box below.

With a comprehensible plan for you and your employees to follow in the event of a disaster, you can rest easier knowing normal operations can continue on. Without planning in advance for these types of scenarios, you run the risk of loosing valuable resources and production time when the worst occurs.

A disaster recover plan needs to safe guard your business and must be easy to implement during a hectic situation. Have a step-by-step process in place that will consider various issues that might have affected your business due to the disaster. Develop the plan with various member of your team to ensure many important factors have been taken into consideration. The team should include IT staff, executives, Human Resources personnel and any other appropriate managers. All employees should be aware of the plan, and a hard copy should be stored in an accessible onsite location as well as other secure locations in case it needs to be accessed remotely. Keep in mind you may have to update the plan on a regular basis to ensure it includes any new changes to your business, as well as to ensure it will provide for any new scenarios that can distress your company.

In a perfect world, the disaster recovery plan would be the last resort. Implementing precautionary measures can prevent any complications in the first place. It is critical to back up data and software on a daily or weekly basis in secure locations that can be easily recovered. Surge protectors will also minimize the effect of power outages on electronic equipment, and an uninterruptible power supply and backup generator will keep things going in the event of a power failure.

Having your recovery plan in place, however, is half the battle. It is in the best interest of the company to test and revise the plan regularly. This means running a full out test of the plan with all the key players present to ensure there are no set backs.

Following the devastation of a disaster big or small, your business has several challenging steps ahead. One is to restore essential services to your customers and employees. Another is to ensure the health and safety of employees once they return to the facility. This can include inspecting the building and replacing furniture and amenities, and ensuring the plumping and electrical are to par. A well organized and ready to utilize crisis management plan will not only keep your employees feeling safe and comfortable at their workplace, but also help the company get back on its feet quickly. Communicating with employees is very important. This should be done through multiple modes to ensure they are receiving the latest updates and understand what the plan is to get back to a normal working environment.

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First of all, the heartland disaster area tax credits program was first initiated because of two items.  The first reason was to help individuals and businesses in places like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas.  These places were some of the ones that suffered from natural disaster in the year 2008.  The other reasons that the heartland disaster area tax credits program was set in motion is that it helped to encourage greater charity.  This charity was seen in participating businesses to help assist the victims in the region.

Now, for taxpayers to fully get the benefits from this program, they need to be in a couple of categories or at least in one of them.  The first category should show that the taxpayer made a contribution to assist victims in Federally declared natural disasters that occurred in the heartlands.  The other category should show that the tax payer was actually harmed in a natural disaster.  Now, the tax payer only needs to be in one of those categories to be able to qualify for the tax credits program.

The great thing about this act is that it will also have some tax payers receive some retirement benefits.  A qualifying tax payer, for example, will be able to borrow 0,000 maximum from a retirement plan provided by the employer.  This is twice the usual limit and is something that can help a tax payer who was harmed in a natural disaster get back to where he or she was before the event.

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Disasters can strike a business at anytime. It is not possible to predict the various disasters that could hit a business, be it natural ones like floods, fires and earthquakes or those arising out of human error. In situations like this, businesses could suffer huge losses, especially in terms of loss of business data. To stay prepared, businesses should consider disaster recovery services – these can help them get back on their feet quickly.

Reports by the US National Fire Protection Agency states that around 43% of organizations that suffer a fire disaster are unable to get back into business after such an episode. A research conducted by Gartner reveals that approximately 40% of small and medium scale businesses which have been unsuccessful in recovering business data within 24 hours of a disaster are unable to remain in business for too long.

This is why most businesses are presently being encouraged to have a disaster recovery plan in place. Since different businesses have their own unique set of requirements in relation to disaster management and data recovery, they approach the process in different ways.

Various options for disaster recovery planning

One of the main aspects that companies should focus on is having a disaster management plan in place. A disaster recovery plan is drawn up by the service providers based on the business establishments’ requirements. Despite being an up-coming field, there are disaster recovery services aimed at different kinds of business establishments.

There are disaster recovery service providers who go to business establishments and conduct a thorough risk assessment.

These service providers assess and communicate the possible threats to a business. If asked for, they can also generate viable plans for the concerned business. In addition to this, there are various software that an organization can employ to be prepared in the event of a disaster. This type of software offers backup of vital business data.

There are disaster recovery units which are mobile. They arrive at the business establishment and help bring it back to functioning mode within a couple of hours. This of course depends on factors such as the severity of the damage caused, the establishment’s location and distance from the service provider.

Another means of ensuring disaster recovery is to have data stored off site. This would mean that a company can opt to have their information stored elsewhere, at a backup site. There are businesses which store critical business data at multiple off-site locations. When hiring the services of an off site disaster recovery company, it is imperative that the security and safety standards of the service provider are optimal.

Disaster recovery services can be considered multifaceted and in the current scenario where businesses are availing more of these services, many more recovery services are cropping up. Whether a business is big or small, disaster recovery is just a plan away. So, give this due thought and make your business ‘disaster-proof’.

www.blogtalkradio.com www.platformforthefuture.com www.tenebroust-thestenchoftruth.blogspot.com http The Stench of Truth (444).mp4 The magic of the ludicrous Osama Bin Laden story has been effective as it has served to turn all of the disasters of this presidency invisible. Wall Street fraud goes uncommented upon. Gas prices continue to rise on speculation that should be outlawed. Eric Holder is worse than useless, no enforcement, no prosecution, no investigation. Housing crisis prepares to intensify. Foreclosures and unemployment continue to have a tremendous impact. Natural disasters decimate the south, yet the “rah, rah, go USA” magic has successfully worked to render all of these things invisible. Not to mention the continued push to destroy all social programs.
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Most of the small and medium-size businesses do not just bother to plan for disaster recovery because of the notion that nothing can happen to their business since they are in a disaster free zone.

But the fact is you never know of the impending dangers which can be disastrous to your organization’s health and business success. The natural disaster can be in the form of earthquake, hurricane or fire spoiling all your business infrastructure with in no time. Yet another disaster can be in the form of an IT project doomed because of system files being on bug. It is essential that every enterprise should have a back-up or a disaster recovery plan so as to prevent the business from getting ruined.

Following are some of basic recovery plans which you should follow.

Whatever business you are in, you should know what can be the natural as well as the technological hazards. When planning for a natural disaster, you can avail the safety information and first aid training from the local organizations such as Red Cross or organizations who are into the safety management programs.

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Subsequently, prepare for the natural disaster by installing safety alarms and signals to inform you in case any disaster occurs. Also the appliances to deal with fire or any other disaster.

All your employees must know about the safety methods. They should be trained to handle the contingency situations.

Always keep the first aid with you, incase a disaster strikes your organization.

Employees are your assets and so making them insured is your concern.

You should have a database of all the staff in your organization, the businesses that you are in, the details of every business showing the financial and other details too. Also maintain each employee’s contact details. Apart from this, you should have details of your clients.

Take out time to have a look at the safety measures. Also incorporate new measures, whenever you feel that some extra safety measurements are required.

Go for a small test which makes you sure that the recovery methods that you have devised is in the order so that there is minimum damage caused after a disaster.

Apart from these plans, you can also employ a special person to handle such kind of disaster .And, you must remember that more than your soaring business, safety of your physical resources as well as human resources is important. If you have a good recovery plan, it will easy for you to restart your business in case a disaster hits your company.

Disaster preparedness or emergency preparedness is very important to cope up with natural disaster. The first step of emergency preparedness is to purchase an emergency kit as well as disaster kit for oneself and one’s family which can help you to fight in disaster situations; however, you can also assembled the kit at home as per your need. If you have disaster preparedness then you will have a greater possibility to endure after the misfortune. But, in the catastrophic disaster, we cannot rely only on emergency personnel because they will be unable to assist the many people who will need help.

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Things of emergency kit have almost increased the chances of survival up to 80% to 90%. Normally people are not able to understand what to do or not in disaster occurrence because mostly they become too nervous and hopeless in this type of situation. But if you are prepared for this kind of situation then you can surely have a better chance of surviving the disaster. The first things you require to be prepare for disaster the shortage of food, water as well as heat in case of cold countries. Emergency supplies list includes emergency food, emergency water storage, earthquake proofing, business emergency supplies and more.

What you need to assemble a disaster supply kit?

Food Supplies: Instant coffee and tea, sugar, salt, pepper, other spices.

First Aid Supplies: Scissors, sterile bandages, gauze pads, cotton balls, safety pins, latex gloves, etc.

Essential Tools and Emergency Supplies: Flashlight, fire extinguisher, paper plates, plastic cups and utensils, household documents, contact numbers and more.

Other Items: Includes blankets, bedding, sleeping bags, comfortable clothes and shoes.

Nowadays, in this internet world many online sources available which are engaged in to provide natural disaster survival kits & emergency preparedness kits. They also offer home kits, auto safety, survival kits, emergency kits, fire safety kit, family kits, disaster survival kits, office survival kits, earthquake safety, pet survival kit and more.

Now with above mentioned point you can be responsive of that how many as well as which things you require to assemble a disaster supply kit.

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As an initial step towards building up of a recovery plan is to craft and map out the most critical aspects of an individual’s day to day business. For example, if the major part of an enterprise work deals with carrying of contracts via communicating over phone with clients then it is essential to address a backup phone system. Though it may seem simple but in real terms it is very complex to maintain integrity.
Data safety is yet the most vital and overlooked area of disaster recovery. You cannot call your clients if you don’t possess their requirements and proper contact addresses. Similarly taking new contracts become difficult if there is no access to your inventory system. Thus, disaster recovery involves the inclusion of frequent backups of all vital and critical information, data and records, digital and hard copies and storing them in a secured way in a remote location of enterprise. Time frame is also an important aspect in disaster recovery and should be taken into consideration while planning.

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Growth and urbanisations of cities in the Asia-Pacific Rim are necessary features in the developed and developing countries. Nonetheless they come with a catch, i.E. Together with the effects and brunt of climate change  on natural hazards to the urban communities. It has been projected that in the next three decades over 60% of the world?s urban population growth will occur in Asia meaning a greater segment of the future probable victims will comprise those from this region.

Acknowledging that some natural calamities and disasters will impact more on the urban population and communities, it becomes imperative for the urban dwellers to be extra aware of the impact and penalties, and make preparations thereof to reduce risks.

Building community resilience of these urban population calls upon an integrated systems tactic in enhancing their capability to cope with the natural disasters. The vulnerability of the urban poor living in areas where the infrastructural services are much lesser is much more acute compared to those staying in more affluent areas.

The perils facing the urban population in this region are projected to be greater compared to those in the rural areas due to their higher population density. Comparatively, the urban poor and other vulnerable groups will be the one at most risk against the natural hazards.

With the rate of urbanization picking up vigorously, demand for land becomes such that communities build houses in areas which are environmentally unstable, with risks of landslides, flash floods, and cave-ins. The circumstances is further compounded as seasonal disasters keep alive the poverty of the urban poor through the regular damage to their livelihood and lives. The natural disasters undercut endeavours towards sustaining improvements to the poor urban communities. Reducing their vulnerability for the long-term calls for implementing workable community centred risk mitigation measures.

A principal step in these measures is the conduct of Risk Assessment, involving the active participation of the urban community, which identify the scope of vulnerabilities, capacities of institutions, communities, infrastructure, and the main hazards. The approach allows the development of action-oriented initiatives with sustainable risk reduction measures, the configuration without difficulty forming into a community action plan. Developing these measures through Action Planning Exercises with the involvement of all stakeholders? i.E. State authorities, NGOs, national societies (Red Cross Red Crescent), and community members may pave the way towards disaster risk reduction and also add towards increasing community resilience. [i]   With technological advances notably in IT, its now feasible to incorporate out 3D visualization of Urban Risk which has decisive advantages for urban planning and disaster management.

The UN ISDR recently launched a two-year international campaign for urban disaster risk reduction sustaining the objectives of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in urban areas. Urban risk reduction efforts however play against a number of challenges including centralized approach, funding constraints, inadequate institutional capacity and insufficient technical resources. These initiatives led to the establishment of the Partnership for Urban Risk Reduction ( PURR) for implementation of Urban Risk Reduction (URR) and enhancing local authorities? capability to put into act urban risk reduction practices in their respective localities. The long-term objectives aimed at achieving mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction in urban governance and urban development.[ii]

How do we operationalise community action in URR?. Joint initiatives led by the state institutions in establishing local campaigns in partnership with local authorities , civil society organizations, Red Cross Red Crescent, NGOs, and the private sector would be an encouraging prospect.

Recognising the threats these urban risks pose to the communities concerned, the Asia Regional Task Force on Urban Risk Reduction is actively promoting urban DRR in on-going activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile a ?Global Hotspot Study for Urban Areas? is being reviewed by the World Bank. Concerns over urban risks have prompted ISDR to develop a note on environmental aspects of disaster management. Even the prospect of opening urban risk reduction training is being considered. In the same context the RTF would conduct a regional mapping of urban risk reduction initiatives and it will be useful to see how well we fare on measures taken. [iii]

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[i] Reducing urban risk through community participation, Anshu Sharma and Manu Gupta,

Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS).

[ii] Round Table Discussion on Urban Risk: Increasing the Effectiveness of Local Action on Risk Reduction and Adaptation,  17 June 2009, Geneva, Switzerland.  Organized by PURR

 [iii] Minutes of the meeting -ASIA REGIONAL TASK FORCE ON URBAN RISK REDUCTION, 14 February 2008, Bangkok

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