Why I Think #EQNZ Validates Cloud Computing

It was scary - the scariest earthquake I have experienced and Wellington's weekend earthquake did teach me a number of things.

Map courtesy of Geonet.org.nz

First an foremost it gave me the smallest sense of what the people of Christchurch, Japan, Haiti and other places hit by much larger earthquakes must have felt.  I wasn't 'terrified', and we didn't have a single piece of damage in our house, but it was real.  The kids were jittery for hours as were some of the adults we had visiting at the time.  For those who have lived through, and are rebuilding, after much more devastating events, I salute you.

Secondly, it was a good reminder that living in NZ, we all need to be prepared.  Thankfully we had just completed an audit of our supplies (school holiday task for Mr 12 and Ms 11) and were good.  Please make sure you have what you need.  There is good information available on the Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management website.  There is no excuse for not being ready.

Business Continuity - Cloud Style
While this latest earthquake was not as big or devastating as others in recent times, it was enough to cause a lot of workplaces to be off limits while buildings were inspected and/or cleaned up.

My employer, Fronde, is a technology company specialising in 'cloud integration'.  Put simply we help other organisations leverage the goodness that is cloud computing and integrate that goodness into their systems, processes and operations, to transform their business.

Understandably we passionate cloud computing users.  And on Monday, with our office off limits, that was put to the test in a BCP context.  Different people in different roles have different needs, but most importantly, as a business we could still communicate - communicate with our employees, customers and partners even though our offices were closed.

Communication is the lifeblood of any business or organisation, and because we have not just our communication tools, but also our productivity, CRM and ERP systems in the cloud the majority of my colleagues continued to function remotely without any significant degradation in service.

Of course focusing on the health and well-being of our family, friends, neighbours and colleagues is paramount.  But once everyone is safe, keeping your business running in a time of societal stress is vital to your own economic security as well as the nation's productivity. 

You should look seriously at the security and business continuity benefits of cloud computing.  It saves dollars and makes sense.

Cheers!