ITS 4910 - Information Trends/Research and Design Project

Module 13

This lesson presents some background on week thirteen. Objectives important to this lesson:

1. What is this week about?
   
2. Current assignments
   
   

Concepts:

The assignment for this week says to complete an epic Disaster Recovery Plan which you started last week. The list of features we discussed is still not very useful because it asks for complete works of fiction based on the hypothetical employees of the enterprise whose plan you are writing.

I gave you some stats last week from an earlier class:

• 90% of companies having a data center disruption lasting 10 days or more go into bankruptcy
• 40% of companies that have disasters never reopen
• 30% of companies that have disasters fail within two years

The statistics apply more this year than last. This year, we are all wondering when the world will recover from Covid-19. There is no guarantee that "back to normal" will happen any time soon. Even companies you might not expect to do anything about other people's problems have shown concern. Look at this short example from Molson Coors, the makers of Miller beer:

In terms of our assignment for this project, take a minute to consider what effects this disease will have on your hypothetical company. Is there particular help that they can apply for? Can they operate their business? Will they stay in business after the pandemic runs its course?

I am not trying to jump on a bandwagon or to make light of the situation. We will all be affected more than we have been. Take the opportunity to add something to your project that addresses this unplanned disaster. What will your company do, but more importantly, what will you do yourself?