Can the Virgin Blues happen to you?

Executives across the country could feel the hair on the back of their necks stand on end over the weekend on hearing the complete financial, PR, operational and reputational disaster that besieged Virgin Blue after a catastrophic IT failure. While the press was interviewing distraught travellers across the country that were asking “Why didn’t they have a backup”, the dirty secret across many Australian organisations is that their IT recovery plans are either inadequate, or reliant on 3^rdparty providers whom they do not have the skills to audit.

Executives and IT managers claiming “But we had a plan”, or “I was assured that we were OK” does not make the systems work. The simple facts are that customers don’t care who your relied on and if they fail you. Your reputation and that of your organisation is at the most risk if the executive has not ensured an independent review of your recovery capabilities. With the pressure of increasing “business as usual” activity and ever increasing demands on IT departments it has become common for IT managers to request an independent assessment of their activity and that of their providers. It is considered appropriate industry practice to undertake an independent audit of 3^rdparty providers service and recovery capabilities both on a regular basis during their contract, and also prior to contract renewal.

If you would like to talk to one of our consultants to discuss how we can assist your IT department with an independent audit please contact us now.  Alternatively read more about our Audit offerings, or download our brochure on IT service provider Audits.