Emerging risks of globalization and Risk Mitigation 101

We seem to be living in an increasingly dynamic world where the meaning of risk continues to evolve. One does not have to really blog about the fact that disasters and other emergencies in a flattening world are more common today than perhaps in the past, a fact that hit home recently in the offshoring city [Bomb Blasts Hit India’s IT City Bangalore ]. Thanks in part to the resilience of Bangaloreans, the city bounced back almost instantly.

Middle-managers in sourcing organizations and offshoring firms probably read about the incidents in the news and realized that the disruption to their operations was (thankfully) minimal, reflected on it a bit and went back to their operational challenges. However, technology executives, consultants and sourcing specialists, risk management consultants and others are taking a harder look at the risks and associated risk mitigation strategies

Executives at client organizations are (and should be) taking a closer look at risks of globalization. The fact is that residents of Bangalore and for that matter most other major metros across the globe, are coming to grips with newer threats and risks. Most residents also realize that the specialists, government and other authorities are also working hard to address the newer risks in the society. Corporate leaders have a responsibility to work with the relevant stakeholders in the society to address and mitigate such risks. For executives at client and vendor organizations, the mitigation strategies would probably include reassessing their risk assessments and disaster recovery plans.

Nothing new in what I am stating above. While in college years ago, I remember reading a chapter on Disaster Recovery (DR) where the author talked about an extremely ‘hypothetical’ scenario: an aircraft crashing on a data center. I am sure that chapter has been rewritten for students of IT today but I wonder about ‘hypothetical’ scenarios authors may be using. I had briefly analyzed key risks of global sourcing in my book and also blogged about it a while ago.

Paraphrasing Americans (and British): we live in a post 9/11 (and 7/11) world, fraught with newer risks. This said, one doesn’t have to rewrite a textbook on risk management. Any robust Risk management strategy should have a feedback mechanism to acknowledge, assess and plan for mitigation of newer risks.

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