The impact on business continuity from the failure of outside Essay

The impact on business continuity from the failure of outside utilities - Essay Example When Hurricane Sandy swept across New York City shut down many businesses, Goldman Sachs is one business which managed to mitigate and protect itself from the adverse impact of the disaster. When it was apparent New York City would not be spared of the hurricane menace, the business owner stacked bags around its head offices (The Economist). By the time storm was settling, Goldman Sachs’ headquarters was one of the few offices that remained safe, dry and with proper illumination in the downtown Manhattan area. Even as firms such as Goldman Sachs prepared themselves to counter the disaster, a block away was a completely disrupted and flooded headquarters of Verizon with all its services interrupted. Verizon had its phone and internet cables all submerged, cutting off millions of services of the company. However, the firm managed to reroute most of its traffic through their other networks. ConEdison, an electricity utility company which serves the city of New York had nearly a million of its customers with no electricity when their underground equipment and power lines destroyed. Although the company had designed its facilities to sustain up to 3.8 meters of any tidal surge, the Hurricane Sandy surpassed this and hit 4.3 meters (The Economist). This interruption went for more than nine days, causing massive losses to businesses and individuals homes that relied on their services. Hurricane Sandy is one of the disastrous events that clearly tested various firms’ ability to cope with unexpected disasters.