Boardroom Series: Disaster Recovery: Are You Prepared?

Celent, a Boston-Based financial research and consulting firm, has launched a client resource called the Boardroom Series. These monthly briefs explore the current challenges faced by insurance companies, helping C-level executives prepare for the next "hard question" their Boards of Directors are likely to ask. Each brief focuses on a single question, provides Celent's view of the issues behind the question, and defines specific action steps that will position a carrier to deliver an effective response.

The second installment of this series is Disaster Recovery: Are You Prepared? Disaster recovery is straightforward in concept but extremely difficult to execute, and business continuity plans are only partially implemented by most carriers. An insurance company must be able to resume critical operations immediately after a disaster event by restoring systems and reassuring clients and employees that help will be available. How quickly can your organization rebuild its data center and its mission-critical systems? How quickly can your organization get the call center back online? If necessary, how will your organization maintain and restore the chain of command?

"The insurance industry is where other industries turn for help in times of disaster, making it even more important to have a business continuity plan in place," says Jeff Goldberg, senior analyst and author of the report. "This report provides a review of steps every company must take in order to be prepared."