New HP Tool Assesses Disaster Preparedness

Hewlett-Packard has launched a a free self-assessment tool to help businesses understand their level of disaster readiness, the company said.

Only 26 percent of companies regularly review and test their business continuity, availability and disaster recovery systems, according to a poll of 340 CIOs and IT managers by Disaster Recovery Institute International, St. Louis.

"No organization can fully prepare for every possible catastrophe, but those that do and regularly test their business continuity and availability plans are keeping the odds in their favor," said John Copenhaver, president and CEO of the Disaster Recovery Institute International, in a statement.

HP’s Rapid Risk Assessment tool allows companies to conduct baseline risk assessments of potential failures and provides recommendations if a score is low enough, according to the company.

"In the face of a host of ongoing threats and risks, companies are challenged to develop resilient solutions that balance evolving business needs," said John Bennett, HP’s worldwide director of business continuity and availability solutions, in a statement. "HP's solutions help customers prevent downtime and quickly recover from disruptions while providing ongoing protection of their critical business processes."

Solution providers could utilize the tool to help their customers, according to an HP spokeswoman.

In the last two years, HP has invested more than $100 million in more than 60 HP Recovery Centers worldwide to help customers better plan for business continuity.