queensland flood: the economic impact

1. Describe the control weaknesses present at ABC that made it possible for a disastrous data loss
to occur.
2. List the components that should have been included in the disaster recovery plan at ABC in order
to ensure computer recovery within 72 hours.
3. What factors, other than those included in the plan itself, should a company consider when
formulating a disaster recovery plan?
4. If you had been engaged to conduct a risk analys is for ABC, what components of the COSO
ERM would be most useful to guide your analysis? Explain your answers

in-text and end text referencing are required

The floods in Queensland and other parts of Australia have affected an area larger than France and Germany combined. They will have a significant impact on the Australian economy, in addition to world commodity and agriculture prices (IBISWorld Special Report 2011). There was significant damage to the infrastructure across Queensland, and an estimated 18,000 residential and commercial properties were significantly affected in Brisbane (capital city of Queensland) and surrounding areas. Many affected business owners return to their offices and found water logged computers with their data destroyed.

 

ABC is a small private company that has an annual revenue of $3 million. The company provides data storage and hosting services to mainly charity organizations. It has about 50 clients around Australia and is endeavoring to increase this to 100. ABC is very busy attracting new customers and its information technology professionals are trusted to manage the computing and data storage facilities.

 

ABC had recently moved its office and data storage facility into a remodeled warehouse along the Brisbane River just before the recent flood. While remodeling the warehouse, the architects retained much of the original structure. The company’s hardware is situated in a large open area with high ceilings and skylights. This openness makes the computer operations area accessible to all of the technical staff. ABC encourages the technical team to take appropriate measures to ensure system reliability.

 

ABC is contractually committed to providing data protection for its clients. Therefore, it had

instituted a tape backup procedure that automatically backs up the database every Sunday to avoid interrupting daily operations and procedures. All tapes are labeled carefully and stored on the shelves in the data processing department. The departmental operator’s manual has instructions on how to use these tapes to restore the database should the need arise.

 

During the recent Brisbane flood, the company office and data storage facility was under water for one week. The company must now inform its clients that all of their data has been destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Required:

1. Describe the control weaknesses present at ABC that made it possible for a disastrous data loss to occur.

 

2. List the components that should have been included in the disaster recovery plan at ABC in order to ensure computer recovery within 72 hours.

 

 

3. What factors, other than those included in the plan itself, should a company consider when formulating a disaster recovery plan?

 

4. If you had been engaged to conduct a risk analys is for ABC, what components of the COSO ERM would be most useful to guide your analysis? Explain your answers.

 

Reference

IBISWorld, “Queensland Flood: The Economic Impact”, Special Report January 2011,

Romney, MB & Steinbart, PJ 2009, Accounting information systems, 11th edn, Pearson Prentice

Hall, Upper Saddle River

 

 

Overall Assessment Guideline:

Part A Weigh

Overall Presentation, Introduction

and Conclusion

1

Evidence of wide reading and

research (in-text and end-text

referencing)

1

Writing skill including grammar 1

2.5 Marks for each Question 10

Total Marks 13