Wednesday 25 March 2009

BBC Rugby Presenter, John Inverdale takes you back to the closing weekend of the 2009 6 Nations tournament...

As the days go by you tend to forget just what a fantastic occasion it was. As another traffic jam drives you into fits of rage and a succession of irritating and unnecessary emails have you pounding the keys in frustration, it's good to take a moment and just cast your mind back. For a start off, the weather was wonderful, so at seven o'clock I was up and out, going for a run round Sophia Gardens , scrunching my way through the crisp frosty dew. There were already dozens of Irish jerseys walking the streets - it was going to be a long day for them.
I then undid all the good the run might have done, by having a big fry-up at the hotel. There's something about baked beans at breakfast time. We then headed out to film the inside of a jet engine for the start of BBC TV's coverage. Don't ask me why.. We just did. It was utterly unconnected to the rugby but looked terrific, so that's all that matters.
By midday we were in the Cardiff Rugby Club clubhouse, with everyone asking the same questions. Would Ireland do it? Would Wales win by 13? Would England beat Scotland? (Actually I lied about that. No-one cared.)
We wathed Italy take a pounding from the French, who were aided by some inexplicably poor non-decision-making by the officials, did some interviews with the great and the good from yesteryear like Tom Kiernan and Gerald Davies, went into the stadium, and started to breathe in the atmosphere.
We have a TV monitor that was about six inches square and watched the England game on that - came on air by the pitch (always the best place to be) in time for the anthems which never cease to intoxicate,, and headed for the studio. Jonathan Davies all calm. Keith Wood pretending to be all calm.
Two hours later, I was thinking about a closing link to our Six Nations coverage about Irish eyes smiling and the usual cliches. Then Wales got awarded that penalty. Woody screamed 'oh no' so loudly and banged his knee so hard I thought the studio would collapse. Secretly I seethed. We'd prepared a closing montage to Stevie Wonder's 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' and now that would look a bit ridiculous if Stephen Jones slotted the penalty. As midnight struck, we were still in an indian restaurant in Cardiff. The day that had begun with bacon and beans ended with a curry and nan bread. What a bunch of athletes. But what a day. A great occasion and the greatest drama in the best rugby city of them all. When you remember, suddenly the traffic jams don't seem so bad.

Friday 20 March 2009

An insight into the 2009 Six Nations with Rugby World Cup Winner Ben Kay….


Another RBS Six Nations draws to a close with Englishmen up and down the country still not sure whether things are on the way up or down. The last weekend throws up some mouth-watering ties and possibilities. Firstly Ireland Vs Wales; Last year’s Grand Slam Heroes, beaten well by what seemed to be a resurgent French team, until they turned up (or should that read didn’t turn up) at Twickenham last weekend, taking on this year’s Grand Slam hopefuls. Will the Welsh surrender the honour of being the last team to realise such a momentous achievement on their own patch without a fight? The Irish fully deserving of the opportunity that awaits them at the Millennium Stadium, in a similar position as the last English side to win all 5 games (a very experienced but ageing side who had blown paths to greatness in previous years and were starting to worry about how many more chances they would get.) For that England side the last hurdle was Ireland at their beloved Lansdowne Road. In 2009, Ireland have to go to one of the noisiest and most passionate coliseums on earth and defeat a team with nearly everything still to play for. One thing’s for sure, It won’t be all about the Craic this weekend as the winner takes all the Championship’s spoils.

The French have to travel to Rome to face an ever improving Italian side who almost pulled off the biggest shock in six nations history last weekend by beating the Welsh. This on the back of their most embarrassing performance in living memory, humiliated by a English side written off as any sort of Force by many. But fear not ‘les gens de la France’; your team are renowned for the odd bout of self-combustion, but whereas us English after a loss tend to Wallow in our crushed confidence for an age, the French seem to put such a performance behind them with a typical Gallic shrug and a horsey blow of the lips! Beware the Italians everything should suggest a close game, which means the French will probably blow you away.

And finally the Auld enemy back at HQ… Last year the Jocks deployed one of their notorious ambushes which are saved only for the English invaders at Murrayfield’s Edinburgh gates. Whether or not Steve Borthwick’s recollection of Scottish gloating is 100% accurate, they were never going to let us quietly slip back over the border were they? And so to Calcutta Cup 2009, the Scots have never been much of an invading force. They last had a successful trip south of the border in 1983 before the likes of Armitage, Flood and Care were even born. But this is a different Scottish team, quietly gaining respect while the column inches have been filled with other Nations woes and triumphs. Surely after a such a barn storming performance last week the men in white won’t regress yet again and allow the unthinkable to happen, If England lose on Saturday no-one will remember one of their tries from last week and the English public won’t forgive them. A win however would leave us with a long period to enjoy back to back wins and with the danger of sounding like an over optimistic politician in these troubled times perhaps the first ‘green shoots’ of a recovery.

Friday 6 March 2009

Failing To Prepare! A New Year guide on Business Continuity – Nigel Davey, Business Development Manager, Managed Networks

Most companies will have crisis communication strategies in place for clients but how many will have robust Business Continuity plans in place for themselves?

Most companies think about dramatic potential crises but the biggest problems which affect business continuity are in fact much simpler. Business’ today are totally reliant on their e-mail systems and the loss of an ADSL line for any period can have a serious knock on affect as well as cause a great deal of client frustration. Yet how many companies have a back up service or know that they don’t have a service guarantee in place? A second supplier or a service guarantee isn’t expensive and is a lot cheaper than entire company downtime! Equally, if for some reason you need to reinstall software or set up a new machine remotely – can put your hand on the relevant disc AND licence number AND all necessary passwords quickly?

Undoubtedly companies should be set up so if building access is an issue, employees can work remotely with full access to all files and e-mail. Using an off-site server usually offers full protection for most eventualities as well as meaning that all data is automatically backed up within the service agreement.

Look at what happened in February – over 65% of the UK’s workforce didn’t make it to work following the biggest snowfall in 18 years. Whilst pictures of snowmen and sledging shots looked fun, with today’s pressured economy days lost from work have a big impact on businesses – especially SME’s.

All too often, people think about massive disasters when they talk about business continuity but in truth, it is day to day factors – like bad weather– that can impact us most of all. It is a brutal fact that 70% of businesses without a business continuity plan fail. Even more surprising is that of the very few which have, 30% of them have never tested the system so there are no guarantees that what they have created is more than theory.

In truth, the more significant or unexpected the emergency, the more sympathetic clients or customers will be. Adverse weather probably buys you 1 or 2 days of sympathy but beyond that, people expect you to be able to trade. Company managers should plan for these sorts of circumstances and failing to do so can make a business look rather amateur.

There are many things a business can do to ensure that they are primed for the small but damaging things that go wrong and so I have created a checklist for how to prepare and deal with business continuity issues

Top Tips for Business Continuity in the Event of a Crisis

Have a plan! Consider all the things that could affect your business and plan for how you combat these. The most common causes of loss of business continuity are not the dramatic crises but simple problems like prevention of access to buildings or loss of broadband connection
Make sure you share the details. Planning is just half the work – ensuring that all team members know what to do and understand what is expected of them is equally important
Create a battle box which includes
all staff contact details
all client contact details
key supplier details
your business continuity plan
spare cheque book
bank details
insurance contacts
key passwords, URL’s and details of relevant software used
Keep your battle box off-site with copies of contents in at least two locations
Make provision for remote access to your server or consider having an external server (and ensure you back up your data daily as standard practice)
If you use an internal server, make provision to enable you to access backed up data on an alternative system
Consider a backup ADSL line to ensure uninterrupted connection or check that you have a satisfactory service guarantee
If you are unable to access your building, nominate an alternative meeting place which will accommodate all your staff or make sure you have a telephone conference option in place
Ensure you have made provision to access finances, often in a crisis you may need to use cash and access large amounts quickly
Nominate one person to co-ordinate everything should you need to put your continuity plan in place and then you can have an IT stress free new year.