Scientists estimate that the probability of a major earthquake hitting Southern California of the United States in the next 30 years may be as high as 70 percent.  But are businesses planning for the worst?  A recent AT&T survey of IT executives in the Los Angeles area indicates that while a majority of these executives see business continuity planning as a priority, one-third of the surveyed companies have no plan in place to address the business impacts of a disaster.

For the sixth consecutive year, AT&T polled IT executives at companies with more than US$10 million in annual revenue in the Los Angeles metropolitan area to determine their views on disaster planning and business continuity trends.

Cyber security is still a top worry.  One-quarter (26 percent) of the respondents indicated that concern over viruses and worms is most likely to keep them up at night.  Worry over natural disasters came in a close second (21 percent), followed by security breaches (18 percent), man-made disasters (15 percent), and corporate/eCommerce sites crashing (11 percent).  Three out of four (77 percent) Los Angeles executives indicate that cyber security is part of their overall business continuity plan.

While two-thirds of the surveyed Los Angeles companies have business continuity plans, only half (56 percent) have updated their plans in the past 12 months (or 21 percent in the past six to 12 months) and just one-third (38 percent) have tested them during the same time period (past 12 months).

“Planning for network disaster recovery now saves time, money and allows us to minimize downtime of key services that police and emergency medical teams will need in the event of a disaster,” said Ken Smith, executive director of AT&T’s Network Disaster Recovery Program. 

“Government, business and residential customers all depend on communications, especially during a disaster event.”

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