The Virtual Machine: A Tool for Business Continuity Planning

Disaster recovery, or business continuity planning, is an ever-increasing issue for IT personnel. Why? Well, try to name a company that is beyond dependence on computer and internet technology to maintain a viable business. O.K., besides the Benedictine monks who make that great liqueur or Amish farmers. The fact is, most companies today quickly come to a standstill without email, data servers or workstations. And the reason business continuity planning is increasingly on the radar of IT personnel is that computer systems can be interrupted in so many ways. First of all, there are interruptions caused by human error, massive power failures or natural disasters. Secondly, the nefarious, irresponsible individuals and groups who create viruses, trojans, and various kinds of other attacks are relentless in their attempts to create havoc in business systems and on the internet. Third, thanks to 9/11, our world (the western world) has come to the somber realization that terrorism can happen anywhere.