Mumbai - An Addiction

“Disaster Recovery”, for the uninitiated, is basically a back-up plan, so that business as usual continues to run, even in the event of a disaster (like earthquakes, fires, any crippling technological glitch, etc.). It’s a fairly common IT term. The non-IT usage of it was exemplified by, of all people, my mom.

I have just bought a new flat right next to my existing one. It has a lot of strategic advantages, so to speak. Without going into the details, to state the sum-total of all benefits, I effectively have one big house.

Now management of a bigger house is definitely more cumbersome than a previous, smaller one. Granted that I am not living in a mansion of any sort. Yet, the day to day things a typical urban family has to keep a track of is not exactly easy. Especially in a dusty, practically on-the-road apartment.

As it turns out, my mom has retained the maid who works for us in our existing house, and the maid who was working for the previous owners in our new home. Her reason: If one of them chooses to take a holiday, then my mom can pay the other one to clean up the house where the maid has taken a leave. Pricing model is per service (sweeping/mopping/dishes), per room, per day.

Now, as an IT consultant, Disaster Recovery services are one of the key components of our portfolio. But this was a whole new level of Disaster Recovery. A lot of hot-shot COO’s would do well to take lessons on business continuity planning from my Mom.

Labels: Business Continuity Planning, Disaster Recovery, IT