Spurred on by the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 as well as other disas- ters where loss of computers was involved, many financial institutions began to plan for the worst. Financial institutions are required to have some type of contingency plan to get their data back up within 72 hours. Some businesses have set up “data mir- roring” sites. Data mirroring echoes data recorded at other locations. In other words, when one key stroke occurs in New York, the same key stroke is made in London or Los Angeles, usually nanoseconds apart. This type of computer backup system has ex- isted in the airline industry for years. Now businesses that execute hundreds of finan- cial transactions a minute or hour have these “data mirroring sites.”12Paul Kirvan, in
“NYBOT Recovers with Backup Trading Floor” (Contingency Planning & Management (January/February 2002): 49–50), describes the history of the New York Board of Trade’s contingency plan. In 1995/1996, the New York Board of Trade set up data mir- roring with voice and data communications in a remote location capable of handling hundreds of traders and their support staff should a disaster occur. When the Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001, the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) acti- vated its plan and called on the telecommunications industry to set up and install the thousands of phone and data lines needed to get it back up by September 17, 2001.
By September 24, everything was back to normal in the remote location.
Merrill Lynch was located across the street from the World Trade Center. When the buildings were hit, the 9,000 staff members were quickly evacuated and sent to the backup locations. Merrill Lynch had established an emergency command center in their New Jersey offices. The Information Systems staff switched all services to that location and distributed employees throughout offices in the New York/New Jersey area. Successful recovery is credited to extensive planning and, most important, test- ing. Merrill Lynch’s plan was upgraded and tested extensively before Y2K. In addition to moving staff and operations, the company offered counseling and assistance to all those affected emotionally by the bombing and destruction of the World Trade Center.13
When we look back at actions after September 11, 2001, in the business and fi- nancial world, we see that they were prepared to move staff and operate using data stored in remote and backup locations.14 Some law firms and businesses had exten- sive paper records that will be painstakingly reconstructed using court and client records. No matter the size of the business, each activated some plan to get back into operation as quickly as possible. Some had extensive plans designed in the aftermath of the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, some in preparation for Y2K and potential computer crashes. Still other companies created plans on the fly with em- ployees telecommuting using their laptop computers and branch offices.
On September 20, 2001, Bruce Craig, National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH), reported in NCC Washington Update7, no. 38, that,
CASE STUDY FIVE
by one count, in New York City there are 42 museums, 57 libraries and archives, and some 245 outdoor sculptures that possibly have been touched by recent events. The National Park Service reports that the HVAC system at Federal Hall is also full of soot and the structure may have suffered unspecified struc- tural damage caused by vibrations when the World Trade towers collapsed. Like thousands of other buildings, Castle Clinton also is covered with concrete soot.
The National Museum of the American Indian (located just a few blocks from Ground Zero), for example, is covered in a few inches of ash. Reportedly, the dust is granular and greasy and may scratch delicate surfaces. Untold number of books, delicate fabrics, historic photographs and prints, as well as art works may need careful cleaning and conservation.
And lest we forget that the Pentagon was also damaged, . . . As far as the Pentagon disaster is concerned, the curator of the Army art collection reports that at least three paintings have been totally destroyed and numerous other pieces of art located throughout the building have suffered some type of damage due to water or smoke.15
Several organizations are collecting information about damage and loss of collections as a result of September 11, 2001. Documentation efforts are being coordinated by the New York State Historical Records and Archives Board (NYSHRAB). Information and assistance are available at www.nyshrab.org/WTC/wtc.html and through Heritage Preservation at www.heritagepreservation.org.
What Lessons Have We Learned about Disaster Response and Contingency Planning?
• It is important to have a plan, any plan. There must be some notion of where staff will work, how data will be accessed, and how customers will find the employees.
• Testing is imperative. Test the data, test the recovery, and test the telecommunications.
• Activate your disaster response team and get the operations up and running as soon as you can. Activate the disaster response plan now.
• Provide emotional counseling and assistance to employees to help them deal with the crisis.
• Don’t wait until the dust clears; call the remote location and declare that emer- gency. Some remote data centers had hundreds of businesses call with a “declared disaster.”
Only time will tell how the businesses and financial institutions will fare. Statis- tics show that half may fail before the next year is out. The destruction of the World Trade Center has strengthened awareness that any type of business needs a disaster re- sponse plan, libraries, archives, and museums included.
Endnotes
1. This should have been determined and the collec- tions identified during the prioritization for recov- ery phase.
2. Articles pertaining to restoring computer opera- tions are found within the bibliography at the end of this book.
3. Jim Lindner, president of VidiPax, interview by au- thor, New York City, 1994. For additional informa- tion, refer to the bibliography.
4. This is known as “sticky shed syndrome.”
5. There is a list of companies that provide this serv- ice in appendix B.
6. Information about the structure and coding of DVDs was found at SANYO Laser Products at http://www.sanyo-verbatim.com/dvd/faq.html.
7. Information about Stachybotrys atra is abundant.
The best sources for information are the CDC and the EPA. Several print and Internet sites are listed in the bibliography under “Indoor Air Quality” and in the general resources. In particular see the fact sheet from the CDC available at http://www.cdc.
gov/nceh/airpollution/mold/stachy.htm.
8. “Ozone,” in McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 7th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992), vol. 17, p. 435.
9. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Ozone Generators. . . .” (Washington, D.C., 2001), p. 1.
10. Torben Bruun Hansen and Bente Andersen, “Ozone and Other Air Pollutants from Photocopying Ma-
Endnotes
chines,”American Industrial Hygiene Association Jour- nal47, no. 10 (1986): 659–665.
11. “Integrated Pest Management,” NEDCC News 8, no. 1 (winter 1998): 4.
12. Data mirroring is also described in the Contingency Planning literature as data replication. For more in- formation on this topic, see Tom Flesher, “Special Challenges over Extended Distance,” Disaster Re- covery Journal (winter 2002).
13. Summarized from article by Janette Ballman, “Mer- rill Lynch Resumes Critical Business within Minutes of Attack,” Disaster Recovery Journal (fall 2001):
26–28.
14. Business and financial actions are chronicled in the various newspapers and news magazines following September 11, in particular the business and news sections of the New York Times, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Time, and Newsweek during September 12–17, 2001.
15. Bruce Craig, National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH), “Cultural In- stitutions Impacted by World Trade Tower Disas- ter,” NCC Washington Update7, no. 38 (September 20, 2001), available at: www.hnet.msu.edu/~ncc.
Ruth Hargraves, project director, “Cataclysm and Challenge: Impact of September 11, 2001 on Our Nation’s Cultural Heritage. Available at http://www.
heritagepreservation.org/PDFS/Cataclysm.pdf.
1. Elements of a Disaster Response Plan
This checklist outlines the four sections of disaster response planning and recovery. Use it to make certain all the components are accounted for. Add to this list or modify it to reflect the needs of your institutionandyour specific disaster response plan.
Use the elements as the table of contents for your plan. Just attach page numbers to each section or category.
Make a basic response plan with phone numbers the first page of disaster response manual for easy ref- erence and contact. Post the daytime numbers for the disaster response team at phones for swift response.
For a quick and dirty plan, use the checklist for the three response phases in conjunction with the list of activities in the introduction (see page 4).
Prevention
□ Survey building and collection for potential damage and hazards. Check fire, smoke, and door alarms, and exit signs.
□ Mark collections that are water and heat sensi- tive. Make certain they are stored in areas that have the least potential for destruction.
□ Monitor indoor air quality.
□ Examine remote storage facilities.
□ Plan for construction and renovation projects.
□ Create list of consultants and conservators who can deal with the damaged format (get alterna- tive names).
Planning
□ Select disaster response team and alternative staff members.
□ Assign responsibilities for each of the response phases.
□ Set priorities for recovery of each of the col- lections (by format, type, department, floor, or building).
□ Plan for large and small disasters.
□ Plan for damage to computers.
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