A recent wiredFINANCE piece about a Symantec study on the lack of disaster preparedness among small and midsize businesses (SMBs) reported that half of those surveyed lacked a disaster preparedness plan and almost 15% have no plans to create one. Disaster preparedness in this case focuses on data and systems protection and recovery.

Of those that don’t have a plan, 52% didn’t think computer systems were critical to the business. Forty-one percent of those said it never occurred to them to put together a plan, and 40% said disaster preparedness was not a priority. Maybe the biggest reason companies refuse to undertake data protection, observes industry storage analyst Greg Schulz, senior analyst, StorageIO, Stillwater, MN, is that they don’t believe a problem will ever occur.

Putting aside the question of whether these respondents are foolish, reckless, cheap, or lazy managers, many organizations may not take steps to backup their data because of the perceived difficulty and costs involved. However, the IT industry has taken steps to simplify backup and lower the cost. Now managers have a number of easy, less expensive backup options. more

What cloud-computing risks should CFOs monitor this year? Security and vendor management, according to Max Staines, president of Compass North America.

Staines defines cloud computing as a delivery platform that enables an “optimized IT environment” with a “usage-based model characterized by pricing mechanisms and commercial terms that create incentives for the service provider to deliver as efficiently as possible, and for the customer to manage demand and consume as efficiently as possible.”

In practice, Staines continues, this environment delivers value through greater efficiency of personnel and support processes, through simplifying software development and rationalizing utilization, and by driving greater utilization of hardware. (Further, Staines says that his company’s operational metrics indicate that an optimized IT environment can deliver savings of 20 percent to 40 percent.) more

The move toward convergence between U.S. GAAP and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) will, of course, have a major impact on corporate financial statements. In addition, it may affect loan agreements. In fact, some of the accounting changes required to comply with IFRS could lead companies to inadvertently violate loan covenants.

This is particularly important, given the volume of corporate debt coming due in the next few years, just as the move toward IFRS heats up. Between now and 2015, about $11.5 trillion in corporate debt held by the 9,000 largest companies around the globe will mature, an analysis by Deloitte shows. more

I’ve been much encouraged recently to see reports that the States are finally starting to claw their way out of the deficit holes caused by the Great Recession. The Rockefeller Institute’s preliminary research for Q4 of 2010, for example, shows that collections were up nearly 7 percent over the same period in the prior year, a result that “indicates new strength in state tax revenues.”

But there’s no sign that State tax authorities are ready to ease the pressure on sales tax rates. Quite the opposite, according to a report released today by tax software firm Vertex Inc. (available here as a pdf). more

To kick my Dodd-Frank coverage habit, I overdid it on FCPA compliance coverage. Now, I’m using an extremely illuminating real-life FCPA compliance conundrum to pivot back to my favorite risk topics: people and culture.

Here’s the problem – so efficiently captured in a question to “The Ethicist” published several weeks ago in the New York Times Magazine:

My company now requires all employees to complete a self-directed training course on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, relevant to our overseas staff but not to my job. This training takes about four hours, time better spent on something more productive, and was not a condition of my employment. Until I transfer into a job that involves me with foreign officials or companies, am I ethically obligated to complete the training?

This question crystallizes the challenge organizational leaders confront when trying to achieve honest-to-goodness returns on their risk and compliance management investments. more