March 3, 2004—A study measuring the economic impact of the August 2003 blackout has concluded that businesses paid a heavy price for lost production and man hours, yet relatively few are putting measures in place to prepare for similar crises in the future. The study, conducted online by Mirifex business and technology consulting firm and Case Western University’s center for the study of regional economic issues, REI@Weatherhead, measured the opinions of 142 leading executives across the affected region beginning within four weeks after the blackout.
Of leaders surveyed, more than two-thirds lost at least a full business day due to the blackout. And a quarter of the businesses surveyed lost more than $50,000 per hour of downtime, meaning at least $400,000 of losses for an 8-hour day. Yet surprisingly, more than a third said they have no risk management or disaster recovery plans in place. And more than half say they are unlikely to invest more in risk management, business continuance, and/or disaster recovery in the future.
According to Mark Slavik, Risk Services Practice Leader at Mirifex and co-author of the study, the findings are consistent with other past studies. “Gartner and Contingency Planners have both released reports in recent years finding that businesses—even when hit hard by crises—show remarkable resistance to change,” Slavik said. “With growing reliance on e-commerce, wireless technology, and the like, the business world is asking for trouble.”
Stoup advised that one area of the study with particular promise is the growing momentum businesses seem to have toward investment in alternate energy systems. “More than a third of the leaders we surveyed said they’d be somewhat or very likely to invest in alternate energy systems in the future. With this region’s leadership in things like polymer technology and fuel cell research, and given our personal experience of the impact an interruption can have, we are in a unique and powerful position to lead the world in developing new means to fuel business, for example.”
Digital copies of the report and analysis are available to the public free of charge at Mirifex/Blackout Survey. Mirifex is also making print copies available from: Blackout Study c/o Mirifex, 8370 Dow Circle, Strongsville, OH 44136 (send $10 check payable to Mirifex).
