"Companies Only React After Disaster and the Cost of Not Being Prepared is High, Sometimes Terminal" Reveal Symantec Corporation's 2011 Survey Findings

ABU DHABI, UAE, February 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- While the majority of private and public companies in the MENA region intend to create emergency response and recovery plans in the future, the recent disaster preparedness research conducted by Symantec warns not to "wait until it's too late". The 2011 survey measured the attitudes and practices of IT professionals and their customers toward disaster preparedness in small- and mid-sized businesses.

The findings show that many of the respondents do not understand the importance of disaster preparedness. Half of the respondents do not have a plan in place; 41% said that it never occurred to them to put together a plan and 40% stated that disaster preparedness is not a priority for them. This lack of preparation is surprising given that 65% of respondents live in regions susceptible to natural disasters.

Disasters can have a significant financial impact, the downtime can also put companies out of business temporarily or result in having to shut down due to a disaster. The recent severe flooding in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia caused 65,000 of Saudi Electricity Company's customers to remain without power for several days. The torrential rain cost the lives of at least ten people and caused injuries to at least 114 people, with a total of 1,451 reported as rescued by the country's civil defence land and air squads.

As organisations create plans it is crucial to recognise the importance of training and exercising in improving emergency management and business continuity. International and regional experts from a wide variety of corporations across the public and private sectors will review the response to natural disasters and identify best practice strategies to improve the readiness to deal with these situations at the 3rd Annual Disaster and Crisis Response Middle East conference, taking place in Abu Dhabi in April.

With the aim to improve the way in which organisations in the Middle East deploy effective business continuity strategies to mitigate the economic impact of such disasters, the event will feature contributions from leading crisis response experts: Major General (Ret.) Professor Alan Hawley, Professor of Disaster Studies, Director of Disasters & Resilience Centre, University of Glamorgan, UK, Roshan Daluwakgoda, Sr. Dir., Strategy Planning, Risk Assessment, & DR Technology, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Centre PJSC (DU), Ali Asad, Emergency Response Coordinator, Kuwait Oil Company, and Andrew Hoar, Disaster Coordinator, King Faizal Specialist Hospital.

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For information about Disaster Management And Crisis Response Middle East taking place 24-27 April 2011 at Yas Island Rotana, Abu Dhabi, UAE please visit http://www.disasterandcrisisresponseme.com or alternatively please contact: Katia Andrejev, Marketing Manager, IQPC at katia.andrejev@iqpc.com or call; +971-4-446-2748