Automatic

[Nick Ferraro1]

When I was learning to drive, my Mom told me I had an advantage. It would be easier for me than it was for her because I could focus on learning to control the car. When she learned to drive, it was more difficult because in addition to learning to handle the car, she also was learning how to shift gears manually. I couldn’t argue that. I was holding the wheel tightly with two hands and had a hard time imagining using one hand to try to shift at the same time. ‘Automatics’ were easier, she said.

Large organizations have an inherent advantage as it pertains to resilience. Shifting workload from an affected site to an unaffected site with similarly skilled staff is a strategic option only large dispersed organizations can consider. It is a common strategy option for both big private and public entities. The plans we see frequently call out workload shifting in the recovery procedures. When looking deeper into this strategy, many organizations have done little else besides capture it in their plans.

Bigger does not mean better. Not when the size of the organization leads planners to believe that workload shifting is automatic. The likelihood that plan builders have made unsupported assumptions in their recovery plans is much higher for a large organization than it is for a smaller one. Planners at smaller organizations are much more aware of limitations. At large organizations planners commonly assume that “there is someone who does that”, and that this unnamed individual or group will “do that” when something goes wrong. The problem is that the people who are being tasked with these specific responsibilities often have no idea what has been assumed of them.

Assumptions made in regard to what other individuals and groups are capable of and plan to do in an event are a common gap to be aware of in recovery planning. This is a key area of concern whenever all or part of the recovery strategy is workload shifting. Ensure that the receiving entity is well aware of the strategy and can manage the added workload within expected time frames. Make sure the IT requirements to shift the workload have been detailed and are part of the IT recovery plan. In short, as with any strategy, exercise the procedure often. Exercising the ‘manual’ requirements for workload shifting is the only thing that will make it feel automatic when it is necessary to implement the strategy.