One way to avoid disasters is to not create them

As IT support people, we are regularly responding to issues created by various types of disasters.  We have pretty much seen everything.  Fires, tornados, floods, roof collapses, loss of key employees have all been thrown at various Clients over the years.  We spend a good amount of time with our Clients planning for these types of disasters.  Disaster plans are developed and tested as much as possible.  Most of the disasters listed here are not under our control.  We can’t control the weather.  But we can plan for these things, so if they do happen to our business we can minimize their effects.

There is a whole set of other types of disasters that are controllable.  Not implementing proper security procedures, not replacing critical old equipment, using the server room as a storage area,  not installing UPSs on critical equipment, and other “controllable disasters” should never happen.  We often hear “we simply can’t have any down time”.  At the same time, the cleaning people use the server room to store their cleaning supplies, or the server room is 100 degrees, and the server in that server room is 10 going on 11 years old.  My question is if you can’t have any down time, why are you asking for it?

In fact, thinking over the last 28 years that we have been supporting Clients, my guess is that about 75% of the “disasters” that have been encountered were self inflicted. These self inflicted disasters cost time and money.  Usually a lot more than the preventative measures that could have been taken to avoid them.  So take a look at your IT environment.  What disasters are you inviting in?