Experts Available to Discuss Importance of Including IT in Disaster Recovery Planning

Business Wire, Oct 10, 2005

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TOPIC: Experts worry that corporate executives do not consider information security failures when constructing their disaster recovery plans and business continuity plans, according to an article by Computerworld. While recent events such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita have caused many business owners to focus on disaster recovery and physical assets, security managers increasingly warn that it is crucial to protect information technology infrastructures, as cyber risks continue to increase and evolve.

EXPERTS: ExpertSource can offer several highly qualified experts to comment on this story:

Ted Chappell is director of consulting services for Optimus Solutions. Optimus Solutions is an information technology solutions provider with an emphasis in enterprise systems integration and infrastructure design. Optimus sells computer hardware, provides consulting services, and implements IT solutions. The firm has specific expertise in high availability servers, server consolidation, and Storage Area Network (SAN) design.

Michael Croy is director of business continuity solutions at Forsythe Solutions Group, a national IT infrastructure solutions provider. Croy and the professional business continuity practice he manages focus on IT risk analysis and management, recovery strategies, best practice models for continuity of IT infrastructure (storage, server, and network), disaster recovery planning, strategy and management, and compliance issues including the Sarbanes-Oxley and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Acts. Croy brings more than 20 years of experience in building, developing and implementing disaster recovery and business continuity programs to Forsythe customers. Prior to joining Forsythe, he served as global director of trading floor continuity for Rosemont, Ill.-based Comdisco, where he helped build Comdisco's business continuity practice and managed the acquisitions and mergers of multiple firms. Croy also developed to create an innovative business continuity offering on behalf of Comdisco for both U.S. and European markets. Earlier, Croy worked in a variety of roles including senior systems engineer, manager, and director of systems engineering for Minneapolis-based Network Systems Corp. His technology industry expertise also includes sales and engineering experience with Storage Technology Corp., Universal Safety Equipment, and the Stewart-Warner Corp. He holds a bachelor's degree in business from George Williams College in Downers Grove, Ill. A highly regarded industry expert, Croy recently served as an expert source on business continuity and disaster recovery issues to the Technology Executives Club and the Society for Information Management (SIM), and has been quoted in such outlets as CIO, CIO Insight, Contingency Planning & Management, Disaster Recovery Journal, Federal Computer Week, Information Week, Processor and WBBM News Radio. Croy is a frequent speaker at a variety of IT risk management forums and conferences, including national Disaster Recovery Journal and Continuity Insights conferences. Croy speaks on a variety of business continuity topics, including: Putting continuity in a business context; Compliance and business continuity; The impact of regulatory issues on the business value of data; Removing the "stovepipes" in an organization's overarching risk management strategy: effectively coordinating IT and business requirements; Choosing an IT infrastructure that addresses the issues of transaction integrity and compute utility availability within a business context; Top items organizations must consider when optimizing their existing disaster recovery platforms; Employing probability analyses to assess risk in various marketplaces/utilizing the results to appropriately protect both high and low risk areas; and, addressing the costs of IT mandate compliance: what and where companies are spending to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and others. Croy has been published in CIO.com, Computerworld, Continuity Insights, Disaster Recovery Journal, Optimize, and Processor. He also serves on the Continuity Insights editorial advisory board. His most recent articles include: Disaster Recovery Journal, "Being Prepared in the 21st Century: Current and Emerging Trends in Business Continuity" (January 2005); CIO.com, "Recovery Sites: To Insource or Outsource...That is the Question" (December 2004); Computerworld, "Six Tips for IT in Planning a Business Continuity Strategy" (May 2004).

Dr. Steven Lewis has been a nationally known expert on disaster planning and business continuity for more than 20 years. He has been a speaker on disaster-recovery topics to many business and professional groups, and his articles have appeared in Public Risk magazine, Health Facilities Management magazine, and many others. Since 1991, he has run the disaster-recovery industry's standard reference, the "Edwards Disaster Recovery Directory." Over the years, he has prepared disaster recovery plans for more than 100 organizations. Many of these also included "Year/2000" risk analyses, evaluation and testing. Dr. Lewis is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certified Computer Programmer (CCP), with a Ph.D. in Systems from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters and Bachelors in Engineering from Cornell University. Dr. Lewis has authored numerous articles, including: "Items Frequently Overlooked Even by Experienced Disaster Planners," Government Security News; "Plan for a Disaster without Destroying Your Budget," PUBLIC RISK magazine; "Disaster-Recovery Planning - A HIPAA Requirement," Health Facilities Management; "Disaster Recovery Planning Vital, But it Doesn't Have to Be Expensive," Banker & Tradesman; "Disaster Recovery Planning," Journal of the Institute of Internal Auditors; and "Disaster Recovery," Survive! The Business Continuity Magazine.