AT&T Survey Finds That Disaster Preparedness Not a Priority for Nearly One-Fourth of Tennessee Businesses in Nashville and Memphis
Nashville, Tennessee, January 31, 2008
Although threats of devastating natural disasters, terrorist attacks and other man-made calamities have prompted more U.S. businesses to prepare for disaster, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced that a survey of local executives indicates many businesses in Memphis and Nashville still remain vulnerable. The survey of 100 local information technology (IT) executives found that Memphis and Nashville scored better than half of the U.S. cities surveyed for disaster preparedness, including Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles, but nearly one-fourth (23 percent) of respondents still say business continuity is not a priority.
"Tornadoes, floods, fires, blackouts and man-made disasters such as cyberattacks can all have devastating consequences, but having a plan in place can minimize the impact of a disaster," said Ray Uriarte, AT&T director of product marketing, Business Continuity and Recovery Services. "AT&T's Business Continuity Professional Services help mitigate the risks of outages across a company's critical network and computing infrastructure. In Tennessee and across the country, AT&T offers companies several defenses to protect networks from intrusion by viruses and hackers and to ensure remote backup and secure data storage for businesses of all sizes."
Businesses in the Memphis and Nashville area ranked fifth among 10 U.S. metropolitan areas surveyed by AT&T. The other markets are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Minneapolis/St. Paul. The survey found that, although a majority of Memphis and Nashville businesses consider business continuity a priority:
- More than one-fourth (29 percent) reported that they do not have a plan to prepare for business disruptions or do not have knowledge of a plan in place.
- A majority (58 percent) of companies have had their plans updated in the past 12 months, but less than half (47 percent) have had them tested during the same time period. Six percent said their plans have never been tested.
- Close to two-thirds (63 percent) of executives indicated no specific protective actions implemented by their companies when the state or federal government issues an alert for an impending disaster.
The 10 market rankings for businesses surveyed in 2007 from highest to lowest in preparedness are:
- New York
- Houston
- San Francisco
- Boston
- Memphis/Nashville
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Minneapolis/St. Paul
- Cleveland
AT&T recommends that every business develop a business-continuity plan, test and update the plan at least annually, educate employees, establish redundant servers and backup sites to protect continuous operations and have processes in place to take action when the federal or state government issues an alert.
Planning ahead for man-made calamities is also important. The survey found that approximately eight out of 10 (85 percent) of the Memphis and Nashville respondents said that cybersecurity is part of their overall business-continuity plan.
"Even a relatively minor disruption in essential network infrastructure can quickly lead to the collapse of vital business processes and ripple through an entire industry," said Ed Amoroso, chief security officer, AT&T, and author of Cyber Security. "Regular testing of a business-continuity plan, updating the plan and incorporating cybersecurity as a key component of the plan are essential to securing every company's ongoing business operations."
When asked what keeps them up at night, Memphis and Nashville respondents most frequently said viruses and worms (32 percent), followed by security breaches (23 percent) and natural disasters (23 percent).
AT&T plans for its own business continuity by planning and investing in its Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) program. AT&T conducts NDR exercises several times each year. These drills are designed to simulate a real-world disaster situation so that response teams can test, refine and strengthen AT&T's business continuity and disaster response in order to minimize network downtime for government and business clients.
For the past 15 years, AT&T has invested more than $500 million in its NDR program, including special training for managers, engineers and technicians across the U.S. AT&T's arsenal includes a fleet of 600 trailers and support vehicles that contain network technology, infrastructure and support elements — the same type of equipment and components found in an AT&T data-routing and voice-switching center.
"The ability for individuals, businesses and the government to communicate during normal times is very important," said Mark Francis, vice president, AT&T Global Network Operations and Network Disaster Recovery. "During a disaster, it becomes a critical requirement. Events like Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina make that critical need obvious. During both Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina, the NDR team supported AT&T's own recovery efforts and provided emergency communications capabilities for other responders operating in New York and New Orleans."
"We've invested more than half a billion dollars in our NDR capabilities since the early 1990s," said Francis. "It's a very tangible example of AT&T's commitment to the reliability and robustness of our network services."
For more information on the AT&T 2007 Business Continuity study, including the complete report, visit http://www.att.com/biz_continuity_study_2007.
Study Methodology:
These results are based on a telephone survey of 1,000 information technology (IT) executives in 10 U.S. metropolitan/regional areas (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis/Nashville, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York and San Francisco). The sample of participating companies was drawn from Dunn and Bradstreet's business list of companies with at least $10 million in revenue located in each of the 10 areas. The metropolitan areas are based on DMAs (Designated Market Areas). Interviews were conducted Jan. 17 - Feb. 14, 2007.
Note: This AT&T release and other news announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss.
| FIND MORE INFORMATION ONLINE | ||
| Related Media Kits: | Related Fact Sheets: | |
|---|---|---|
| Related News Releases: | Web Sites: | |
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at www.att.com.
© 2008 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.
