Risks on the Rise: Making a Case for IT Disaster Recovery ...

According to the Forrester/Disaster Recovery Journal Business Continuity Preparedness Survey from 2011 Q4, the top increasing risks cited by a survey of decision-makers or influencers when it comes to IT planning and purchasing for business continuity were as follows:

(48%) ? Increased reliance on technology
(37%) ? Business complexity of our organization
(36%) ? Increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters
(33%) ? Increased reliance on third-parties (i.e., outsourcing, suppliers, etc.)
(26%) ? Increased regulatory requirements
(25%) ? Increased threat of cyber attacks

An increased reliance on technology can be seen from the retail industry that must adapt to include digital transactions to the healthcare industry that relies on electronic patient data entry, information exchange, processing, etc., demarcating the shift from paper records to electronic health record systems (EHRs). [Read more about compliance regulations for each industry in our HIPAA Compliant Hosting and PCI Compliant Hosting white papers].

Critical applications are the lifeline of companies these days; emphasizing the importance of uptime and availability of hosting solutions as well as IT disaster recovery plans that can replicate systems and data when needed (IT disaster recovery plans are a subset of business continuity plans).

Third-parties can introduce more complexity into an organization?s business processes and workflow. They can also introduce potential new or increased risks, depending on the partner?s security practices and general security awareness. Check for all aspects of their administrative security controls, including security training, up-to-date audit reports, documented policies and contractual obligations.

Subsequent drivers of increased risk are seen below, including the geographic distribution of the organization and financial, political and social instability.

Drivers of Increased Risk

The survey asked respondents how many times in the last five years they had to invoke a business continuity plan ? while 39 percent said never, 18 percent said they had to at least once, and 15 percent said twice. Twelve percent had to invoke a business continuity plan greater than five times in the last five years.

Natural disasters and extreme weather (winter storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.) were the cause of 55 percent of invocations, and floods accounted for 28 percent. As was seen in the recent Hurricane Sandy disaster, it is ideal to have an IT disaster recovery/business continuity plan in place that is regularly tested to avoid major data loss, or extensive downtime. While the extent of natural disasters cannot always be anticipated, having a plan in place can help expedite recovery. If seeking a managed hosting partner or an IT disaster recovery production site, choosing a facility in a low-risk geographical location can help ensure data and application availability. Find out why the Midwest and Michigan are great places for safe and secure data centers.

Power outages account for 49 percent of business continuity plan invocations. If you?re outsourcing to a data center operator, research their high availability server hosting capabilities. With a high availability hosting infrastructure, you should have:

• Power from separate utility providers
• Multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
• N+1 (fully redundant) cooling, generators and batteries
• Remote offsite backup

Multiple Internet Service providers (ISPs) allows for automatic network failover between providers and network circuits should an anomaly occur. Dual routers and switches also ensure your network is always connected. If power does go out, your data center should be equipped with backup power, including dual generators should one fail.

Online Tech's Data Center Generators

Dual UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) battery backup systems can provide emergency power when the input power source fails. Find out more about specific data center features that can eliminate the risk of a power outage. IT failure accounts for 36 percent of invocations. While not always avoidable, initial strategic design and ongoing maintenance of redundant networks can help protect against failure.

Causes of IT Disaster

Related Links:
Michigan Disaster Recovery
Secure Health Information Exchange: Preparing for a Disaster
Disaster Recovery & Backup with PCI Hosting Providers

Reference:
The State of Business Continuity Preparedness (PDF)

Source: http://healthworkscollective.com/onlinetech/64611/risks-rise-making-case-it-disaster-recovery

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Deaths of 5 runaways prompt soul search in China

BEIJING (AP) ? On the day China unveiled its new leadership in Beijing with promises of a better life for all, five runaway boys died in a garbage bin where they had sought shelter and warmth on a cold, damp night in the south.

The boys were all brothers or cousins aged 9 to 13. Surnamed Tao, they were the sons of three brothers ? two of whom are migrant workers with jobs far from home ? and most of them lived largely unsupervised in the care of their blind grandmother.

They had been missing for more than a week when, police say, they lit a fire to stay warm on the night of Nov. 15 in the southern city of Bijie and died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

As details of the tragedy emerged this week, it touched off the country's latest soul-searching about social responsibility. It renewed concern over the "left-behind" rural children who often stay with grandparents while parents seek work in thriving coastal cities, and the failure of the country's social services to adequately care for them.

"Though you departed from us in a garbage bin, you are not garbage," children's book author Zheng Yuanjie wrote in his microblog, adding that the fault lies with "adults who failed their responsibilities."

Questions have been raised about how the children ? found about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from their home village of Caqiangyan ? could have gone missing for 10 days without more of an effort launched to find them. Six local officials, including two school principals, were sacked on Tuesday.

"We have failed in our management work," said Tang Guangxing, a spokesman for Bijie city, where the boys' bodies were found Friday. "Our work was not attentive enough."

State media outlets, giving the deaths broad coverage, have joined in the hand-wringing.

"This is a shame that cannot be washed away by a civilized society," the Beijing Youth Daily wrote in an editorial.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the boys had poor grades at school and had essentially dropped out of their classes. It faulted China's education system for putting too much stress on academic excellence at the expense of caring for less successful students.

"Please do not forget the mission of compulsory education. Please spread love and responsibility like sunshine," Xinhua wrote in an editorial. "This is also a tragedy of 'left-behind children,' which is a sign of the time and requires introspection from family, society and government."

Many critics in China have fretted over decaying public morality as the country's economy rapidly grows and its people enjoy unprecedented wealth. A similar outcry erupted last year when a toddler in Guangzhou was run over by two vehicles and then ignored by at least 18 passers-by.

The latest incident has focused concern on the plight of families in impoverished rural areas. An estimated 58 million children countrywide lack sufficient supervision or stay in the care of grandparents when their parents seek work in China's booming cities.

Some details of the boys' home life remain unclear. Their relatives lack telephones and could not be contacted, though some were quoted by Chinese media outlets who sent journalists to the extremely poor, mountainous region of mud huts where farmers earn about 3,000 yuan ($475) a year.

The boys ? Zhongjin, Zhonghong, Zhonglin, Chong and Bo ? were found in a 1.5-meter-by-1.3-meter (5 foot-by-4 foot) garbage container in Bijie after a night of drizzling rain when temperatures were about 4 Celsius (40 Fahrenheit).

Two of the fathers, ironically, are garbage collectors in the boom city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, according to a Xinhua report. One of the mothers lives in Shenzhen and another reportedly left the family. The third brother and his wife are farmers in the Bijie area, though they apparently often left the boys to fend for themselves, Xinhua said.

Former journalist and Bijie resident Li Yuanlong posted online that the children had been spotted living in a temporary shelter with plastic cloth, bricks and plywood at a nearby demolition site.

Li, who broke the story on the deaths in an online posting, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that local officials in Bijie were not pleased with the coverage and that police escorted him out of the city and told him to stay away for four or five days.

Some observers have faulted the family for not keeping closer watch over their children.

"How could grandparents take care of your child when you are away?" asked Beijing parking attendant Liang Hongjin, a migrant worker from Henan province.

However, much of the criticism has been directed at the government and educational system.

The family reported the boys missing Nov. 5. Beijing lawyer Li Fangping said the failure of local officials to launch a proper search was "horrific."

The boys died hours after Xi Jinping gave his first speech as China's new leader in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. Xi underlined the Communist Party's mission to improve the country's education, employment, social security, housing and health care.

"Our people have an ardent love for life," Xi said in the speech. "They want their children to have sound growth, have good jobs and lead a more enjoyable life."

The boys' deaths reflect a systematic failure of children services, Beijing Normal University social welfare expert Wang Zhenyao said on state-run China Central Television. The system lacks shelters, social workers and volunteers, and there is poor communication with those in need, he said.

"That's a blank in China," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-21-AS-China-Garbage-Bin-Tragedy/id-960ed11cba00443ea8a8d712d21fe338

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Local church collects food for holidays

CINCINNATI - Thousands of local families will have a slightly more festive Thanksgiving thanks to a two-day food drive held by a local church community.

On Saturday and Sunday, members of the Crossroads church were expected to drop off around 9,000 boxes of food to locations in Oakley, Mason and Florence. The collected food will later be redistributed to needy families in the Greater Cincinnati area.

As a result of the drive, about 4,500 boxes of food will be distributed to 70 inner-city churches and charities in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The churches and charities will then share the collected goods with families in their communities who are in need of help this holiday season.

The Crossroads congregations will donate an additional 4,300 boxes of food to two charities in South Africa.

Officials with the Crossroads church say the food drive provides about 300,000 meals for Thanksgiving.

The holiday food drive has inspired similar initiatives in Louisiana and Georgia, according to officials from the Crossroads church.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_news/local-church-collects-food-shares-holiday-spirit-with-needy-families

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Internet Marketing Tips For Small Business - Best SEO Company

One of the common questioned asked by internet marketing entrepreneurs is how can they improve their business and earn more money. According to survey small and medium sized business spends more than 20-25% of their budget for staff salaries, and to handle other functional areas of business when compared to large sized business that generally outsource this type of activities. Here are some of the areas where small and medium sized online businesses should focus their marketing activities, not all activities will be useful but some of the ideas would work for you.

Website Audit: Initially many build websites on cheap according to the requirement at that time but over a period of time the site is added with all the content and products using some software. A website audit is conducted to decide whether overall content, security and performance of the website. You have to look at the site and be honest and know does it exactly do what you wanted it to do and does it sell the products in the same way that you desired and does the content convey the same what you wanted to say. Website audit takes very little time and requires less money than you actually think so it is the best way to determine your website?s performance which will be helpful to know your drawbacks and resolve the issues.

Website SEO: After knowing the problems that your site is facing it is the time for you to solve the issues. Make your website search engine friendly by implementing some of the Search engine optimizing techniques which include both on page and off page optimization. More than 85% of the users use search engines and online directories for their required information, websites, services, products, so it is better you optimize your website for search engines like Google and Bing. For this you can use of some of the software or to see better results, outsource your work to good company who are successful in their profession or hire a professional person who can help you in areas.

Keyword selection: keyword and phrase selection is very important as it reflects the whole of your business and helps to user to search your site in search engines and makes them to land on your website. So be very careful while selecting your keywords and phrases.? Use Google Keyword tool for selecting the best keywords and phrases which exactly matches your business. It even gives the suggestion that which keyword is having how much traffic and from which region that keyword is searched and gives much useful information.

Start Blogging: Create and install a blog to your website and frequently update and add the content website to blog. Any business owner who is not going to do this will lose huge traffic which is nothing but money. Search engines like fresh and genuine content, it is one of the main reasons why blogs show up in the search engine results pages than static websites. Make use of Feedburner to permit readers to subscribe to your blog updates by means of RSS feeds or Email. Use Facebook, Twitter and linked to promote your latest posts.

About the Author:
This article has been posted by Maria, a professional blogger who is writing articles on PPI claims and shows keen interest in finance. You can reach her @finacneport

Source: http://www.webinfotech.info/blog/2012/11/17/internet-marketing-tips-for-small-business/

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Relationship Breakdown between the Electorate and the Elected ...

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Source: http://jiltedgeneration.blogspot.com/2012/11/relationship-breakdown-between.html

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'Breaking Dawn - Part 2': The Reviews Are In!

Finale has received best reviews in 'Twilight' history, with one critic saying the cast 'brings liveliness to a franchise known for being soulless.'
By Kara Warner

Kristen Stewart, MacKenzie Foy and Robert Pattinson in "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1"
Photo: Summit

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1697518/breaking-dawn-part-2-reviews.jhtml

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Video: Dash-cam video captures frightening head-on collision

>>> person who invented dash cam video. and dvr. but mainly dash cam video. check this out. a car hitting a police cruiser head-on in wisconsin. the officer's near brush with death started with a routine traffic stop. seconds later, his patrol car was hit head-on. the officer was hurt. the other driver was not. investigators believe fatigue could have caused the crash. said dash cam video afterwards, you're welcome. that's

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49865654/

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