PSE conducts disaster recovery planning briefing

? As part of its efforts to reinvigorate the economy which was hit by typhoons ?Ondoy? and ?Pepeng?, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) recently conducted a disaster recovery planning (DRP) symposium which was attended by the representatives of the biggest companies in the country.

Among those who attended the PSE DRP briefing were San Miguel Pure Foods president Butch Alejo, SM Investment Corporation vice-president for investor relations Cora Guidote, Robinsons Land Corporation general manager, office buildings division Henry Yap, and Manila Water group director for operations Frank Beaumont.

Francis E. Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, said the DRP is a set of processes, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or man-made disaster.

He said the DRP is also a part of larger process known as business continuity planning which includes resumption of information technology (IT) processes and infrastructure as well as non-IT aspects such as key personnel, facilities, crisis communication and reputation protection.

Lim noted the PSE decided to conduct the briefing as ?the environment has proven to be volatile and merciless.?

?At the Philippine Stock Exchange, we are very much aware of the importance of disaster recovery planning in ensuring that critical operations are not disrupted in the event of a major disaster,? he added.

Moreover, Lim bared that at present, they have two data centers that ensure business continuity, mitigate risks and that trading operations are up and running.

?Next year, we are planning to enter into a co-location agreement with a service provider for the maintenance of a disaster recovery site to further enhance our disaster recovery program,? he pointed out.

?As we face harsher weather conditions and other natural and man-made disasters that may translate into tens of billions of pesos in losses in terms of business, data, revenues and property, we pick this time now, more than ever, to send this message across the business community to put special focus on disaster recovery planning,? Lim stressed.

He said there is a lot of work to be done in the business to ensure that DRP will be accepted by planners.

?For us, at the PSE, DRP is more than a business strategy, it is confidence-building. It is survival,? Lim stressed.

He said a market can only be considered a good one if it has the following characteristics: availability of information; liquidity; low transaction costs; informational efficiency; and price continuity.

?Having a disaster recovery or business continuity plan in place is one critical way of ensuring the fifth characteristic of price continuity,? Lim concluded. (PNA)

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