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Why is disaster recovery important?
While the answer to this question might seem
obvious, surprisingly few corporations have detailed disaster recovery and business
resumption programs in place. The risks faced by natural disasters (earthquake, fire,
flood, wind, storm) and now terrorism or other man-made disasters pose a real threat to
the long-term survivability of many businesses. Loss of capital and more importantly,
revenues, can be devastating to even the most successful business.
I have backup computers and an employee relocation program
already in place.
The use of backup data systems, hot sites and
employee relocation plans are only temporary measures designed to keep a company
operational while full business recovery occurs. But what about the company’s
physical infrastructure; it’s buildings, and mechanical equipment? Experience from
past earthquakes, hurricanes and from 9/11 tells us that given the demands, reconstruction
of damaged infrastructure is more likely to take months or years, rather than weeks. How
long can a "temporary" hot site be leased, and at what cost? How long will
employees be willing to work in scattered locations and what does that do to a
business’ efficiency? Corporations build or lease permanent space where their
employees gather and work for a reason: it is optimal from a business standpoint.
I can’t afford to build a hardened facility or retrofit
my existing one.
While having a facility designed especially
to resist natural or man-made damage provides the best insurance against loss, practically
this is not always possible. However, it is not only the actual damage that can cause
loss, but the time required to effect repairs. In the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
thousands of buildings were tagged as unsafe by local officials. Many were given the
posting after inspections lasting less than 15 minutes. Scores were actually safe and able
to be occupied. In order to change the posting, an owner was required to hire an engineer
to make a detailed inspection and submit a reposting request to the city. In San
Francisco, because of the demand for professional services, the average time just to hire
an engineer was three weeks and the time for the City to review and repost a building was
another two weeks. So, even relatively lightly damaged buildings were often closed for
more than a month just due to availability of professionals and local bureaucracy.
Buildings that needed significant structural or mechanical repairs often had to wait
months or years to hire a design team and contractor.
This experience shows that even if a building isn’t specifically
designed to be operational following a disaster, significant savings in recovery time can
be gained by shortening the process of locating and hiring engineers and contractors to
inspect buildings, design repairs and begin the reconstruction process.
How can I reduce my recovery time?
CDComartin, INC has established a Disaster Response and Recovery Program for
several of its institutional and corporate clients. The goal of the DRRP is to provide
rapid and reliable post disaster engineering inspection and design services. The primary
objective is to be able to quickly identify whether a building is safe to occupy and what
if any repairs are needed to bring it back to full functionality. The Program involves six components:
1)
Pre-earthquake assessment: One of the greatest challenges for
inspectors evaluating buildings after an earthquake is not having a detailed knowledge of
the building and its structural characteristics. Often inspectors make rapid exterior
evaluations and may not even be able to correctly identify the structural system as steel
or concrete, let alone gauge whether observable damage warrants building closure. CDComartin, INC makes a detailed evaluation of the
building prior to the earthquake and identifies key structural characteristics and
potential deficiencies that may lead to damage. This information is assembled in a binder
that is made available to inspectors during
their inspections, so that they can make an accurate and reliable assessment of damage.
2)
Retention of dedicated inspectors: CDComartin, INC
has established relationships with other engineering firms to provide immediate dedicated
response to its clients’ facilities following a disaster. These engineers are
contractually obligated to devote up to 72 hours to the client to make evaluations and
develop repair designs. Enough engineers are retained to provide reliable backup response.
The engineers are trained on a regular basis and their contact information is kept
constantly up to date.
3)
Inspection agreements with local jurisdictions: One
of the most valuable services CDComartin, INC provides is to establish agreements with local
building departments that allows owners to post
their own buildings following a disaster. Called Business Occupancy Resumption
Programs, many jurisdictions are willing to allow trained and experienced engineers hired
by owners to post buildings with detailed inspections. The cities are kept informed of the
posting by receiving the engineer’s detailed report and recommendations. This aspect
of the program alone can save weeks of recovery time.
4)
Post-disaster response plans: CDComartin, INC has
developed procedures for engineers and
owner’s representatives to follow immediately following a disaster in order to
streamline the response effort. This includes setting up immediate response triggers,
dedicating stores of supplies to facilitate the inspections, training key owner
personnel, and staffing tracking and administrative functions during the inspection and
recovery efforts. This information is included in the binder for each covered facility.
5)
Scenario drills: CDComartin, INC uses seismic hazard
information to run scenario earthquake drills to ensure that complete and reliable
coverage of all our clients’ facilities are maintained through the network of
retained inspecting engineers.
6) A dedicated Emergency
Operations Center: CDComartin, INC has established a dedicated EOC in Stockton,
California to coordinate and execute post disaster response. In a large event, where an
entire region may be affected and many facilities need attention, this EOC will be the
nerve center where response can be coordinated and inspections and recovery efforts
managed. The EOC is equipped with multiple phone and data lines, information on all the
facilities covered by the program and computing and reproduction equipment necessary to
ensure a smooth and uninterrupted response.
What is the cost to
develop and maintain a Disaster Response and Recovery Program?
Compared to the cost of retrofitting existing facilities, purchasing expensive
backup equipment (UPS, storage space, etc..) and maintaining a retainer on a hot site,
developing and maintaining a Disaster Response and Recovery Program can be done at a
fraction of the price. Because the fundamentals of the program are already in place,
initial setup for a facility primarily involves the pre-earthquake assessment, training of
the client’s staff and adding retained engineers as necessary to ensure complete
coverage. Depending on the size and complexity, most setup fees range from $5,000 to
$10,000 per building.
Annual maintenance of the program includes updating client, building and
inspector information, conducting an annual walkthrough assessment to identify any
structural or nonstructural building elements that have changed, maintenance of the
posting agreements with local jurisdictions, and updating contractual relationships with
the inspecting engineers. Typically, this service costs from $5,000 to $7,000 per year.
It is clear that the cost of establishing an ongoing disaster response program is
minimal compared to the benefits that could make or break recovery for a company. One of
our Silicon Valley clients, with a server ranch containing nearly $100 million in
equipment recently commented that the $2 million emergency generator they put in
paid for itself the very first week, when there was a temporary power outage lasting less
than a couple hours. Consider how much greater a return on investment would be
realized by reducing down time by weeks or months after a major disaster, at a cost of
less than $10,000 a year?
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