Quality Control Techniques
Introduction Quality of product and services determines success or failure of the organization. Consumers expect the company to maintain high-level of quality and consider it an important aspect of satisfaction. Quality management, therefore, becomes very important as far as any organization is concerned. Quality management can be accomplished through various quality control techniques. Quality assurance […]
Finished Goods Inventory Classifications and Terminologies
While inventory classification of raw materials for Inventory Management purposes follows ABC Classification, Finished Goods inventory is classified under additional categories based on various attributes including sales volumes/patterns, functional attributes and operational requirements. Stock Category depending upon Sales Channels Finished Goods at the very basic level is manufactured and stocked separately depending upon the Business […]
Planning Functionality of an ERP System – Setting up of Planning Engine
In customer centric business environment, it is critical to have an effective plan to manage production capacity, materials availability and shipment schedules. The planning functionality of an ERP system provides organizations the means of meeting such customer centric approach. Planners are able to simulate alternate scenario planning wherefrom they determine which assemblies and components to […]
Business Processes Driving Organizations
Organizations world over have realized the need for re-structuring themselves and adapting business processes to be able to survive in the global scenario. This process of change management from an old hierarchical structure of Organization to a Business process oriented organization began two decades ago. What has aided the new design is the development of […]
Role of Project Managers – Should Project Managers behave like Prima Donnas?
This article addresses the question: Should Project Managers behave like Prima Donnas? The question posed is about the role of the project manager and the ways in which he or she steers the project towards successful completion. The thesis statement is about the point that covers a broad range of topics and deals with a […]
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plans help Organizations stay on the course, minimize their risk to business operations and limit the losses incurred in the event of a crisis or disaster. The planned approach helps define what is required to be done to resume business operations during an emergency situation.
An effective plan would entail detailed Business impact analysis, describing in detail every possible risk, the impact of the risk and the methods or process to arrest damage and carry out the process of disaster recovery as well as ensure business continuity.
In the current times, with the advancement of IT systems and technologies, organizations have realized the fact that they cannot afford to lose any of their assets or risk disruption of business in the event of any crisis or disaster. Therefore the concept of DR & BC have gained ground.
Though the organizations do endorse the usefulness of these plans and spend time and efforts to draw up the plans in detail, it is seen that in a majority of cases the plans are left lying unused or in the state that they were drawn up originally without a periodic review and updation. The initial enthusiasm that is seen during the implementation soon wears off and people tend to forget all about DR & BC, with the result that during crises they go searching for the plans and pour over it to see what is required to be done. This of course is an extreme case being depicted here for no organization would want to let the plans lie unused. However, it is important to understand why in some cases the DR & BC Plans are not successfully implemented and maintained.
First and foremost the lack of focus and interest from the Management can hinder the DR & BC plan in an Organization. Quite often when the management comes across a crises situation elsewhere or they perceive a threat or risk to their business, they tend to get serious about drawing up a DR & BC plan for their business. However when the situation turns normal or after a few days they tend to lose interest and are not likely to be interested in spending huge amount of money inc creating DR & BC sites.
Secondly lack of manpower and adequate budgets hamper DR & BC plans. When it comes to implementing a DR & BC plan there cannot be any questions of cutting corners in maintaining DR Sites. If an Organization or business warrants maintaining a DR Site live and as a backup, then the required resources in terms of finance as well as manpower would have to be engaged. Maintaining DR & BC plans call for investments not only in manpower but also in building required infrastructure, IT & Systems costs as well as day to day operational and maintenance costs too. When Business managers and senior management do not provide the required resources the plans are likely to suffer. In some cases the business may not be able to support such costs towards establishing and maintaining DR Sites.
Ultimately the management would need to take a balanced view of comparing the cost of recovery to the risk and loss to the business and decided on how far they wish to go with the DR & BC Plans. A sustained interest, support and focus from the management coupled with dedicated ownership and responsibility on a team to review, implement and conduct period mock drills would be the right approach to making the DR & BC plans effective.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
