Area 51 Consulting Prepared for Blackout Events
Other Businesses Could Learn From IT Industry, Says CEO
Akron,
OH, August, 2003 — When the recent history-making massive power blackout rolled through Akron, Area 51 Consulting, Inc., which delivers quality voice, network, and Internet solutions to businesses, was prepared. Most of its customers never lost core services, thanks to the business continuity planning of Area 51 CEO John Reinmann and his staff.
"This blackout event should be an eye-opener for businesses, demonstrating the importance of continuity planning," said Reinmann. "The way the IT industry plans for such events could serve as a model for businesses in any industry."
Reinmann offered Area 51 as a case in point. "We have multiple redundancies built into our systems all down the line, so that if one part goes out, another takes over automatically. And if the power grid goes out, batteries kick in until our diesel-fuel generator can begin supplying power."
"Most important, though," Reinmann said, "we look at business continuity planning as an ongoing process. We're always looking for vulnerabilities and ways to overcome them, and we review our risk assessment yearly or as events dictate."
Reinmann emphasized that companies can continue to do business despite adversity, if they have planned well. "A clothing store, for example, might think it has to stop taking money because the cash register won't work during a blackout.
"But a simple calculator and cash box, along with a manual charge card machine and written receipt book, will take care of that problem," he said.
Reinmann offered these tips for business owners wanting to avoid a total shutdown because of power outages, terrorism, weather, or other events.
*Prevention. Perform ongoing risk assessments and put measures in place to prevent total business failure. Identify the critical functions of your business and develop methods to preserve them.
For instance, you may find you don't really need air conditioning to conduct business, but light is absolutely necessary. Obtain and install lighting that runs on battery power to prevent that damaging loss.
*Response plan. What exactly will you do during an event? If yours is a company with more than one or two employees, it's best to codify the response plan and have copies of it easily accessible to all. Include in it procedures, important phone numbers, and gathering locations.
*Resumption of service. Once your temporary measures are no longer necessary, and you are ready to do business as usual, what will you need to do? If you've made sales using a calculator and written receipts, for example, you may need to enter them all in your cash register once it's up and running.
"In the IT world," said Reinmann, "the features and facilities are robust to protect large investments. Any business would do well to follow that example, even if its investments are smaller."
Area 51 Consulting, Inc. provides unique solutions for an array of the most difficult business technology challenges: networking, telecommunications, Web site design and hosting, knowledge management systems, data and voice integration, and application development. Specializing in custom Intranet development for manufacturing, franchising, retail sales, engineering, and local government, Area 51 has created, installed, and implemented solutions for clients such as the Cleveland Browns, the City of Hudson, Ohio, and Liquid Controls, a unit of IDEX Corporation.
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Attention
Editors: To arrange interviews or for further information about Area 51 Consulting,
Inc., please contact Kevin Campbell at (330) 374-0351, Ext. 102, or Lee Esposito at
(800) 254-1971.
