We began the current decade dealing with the aftermath of the “dot-com bust”.  Looking back, it’s laughable that we thought that was as bad as things could get (see #2, #10, below).  My candidates for the most important developments taking place in, or affecting, the business world in the decade about to end are (in chronological order):

1. Wikipedia (2001)

What might have been the first free information-sharing site on the Internet was created as a ”feeder” of information to an encyclopedia project called “Nupedia”.  The feeder project quickly outdistanced its parent and today is considered an important and reliable reference.  Wikipedia contains millions of articles in hundreds of languages on a wide range of topics, which allow businesspeople to quickly gather and use knowledge on any topic.

2. Accounting Scandals (2001)

The large-scale shell game that Ken Lay and others allegedly cooked up (Mr. Lay died before he could be brought to trial) ruined the livelihoods and lives of thousands of investors, many of them employees of the company who were persuaded to hold onto their Enron stock or buy more, even as Lay and other top company officials were selling theirs.

The collapse of Enron and companies like it (e.g., WorldCom) led to the passage in the USA of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Similar problems in Europe and elsewhere (e.g., Parmalat) led to worldwide passage of legislation mandating greater accounting and internal controls.  From that point, the practice of accounting changed enormously and — perhaps — irreversibly.

3. Google Adwords (2002)

The development of algorithms that enabled “virtual auctions” for keywords established a new kind of Internet business model, changing the way many companies advertised and redefining the sales pipeline.

4. BlackBerry (2002)

What began as a simple paging device became the first smartphone, supporting many more functions (address book, calendar, mobile phone, texting, web browsing, etc.) than just paging or voice transmission. The device’s multiple capabilities were found to be more than a little addictive, earning it the nickname “CrackBerry”.  The Blackberry’s popularity has increased as more functionality has been added.  It has spawned heavy competition in the wireless arena (see “iPhone”, below) and, of course, litigation.  (You have to expect that nowadays when you come up with a good idea.)

5. Facebook (2005)

A web app that business initially scoffed at, Facebook allows people of all backgrounds to set up or join social communities.  Naturally, businesses realized very quickly that this application provided yet another window into target markets, as well as enabled companies to use the growing number of Facebook users as another information sharing platform.

6. YouTube (2006)

YouTube even now is considered the refuge of the cheap, mindless video. That hasn’t stopped the business community from seizing the potential of this ubiquitous video source.  Companies are using “YouTube” to communicate with stakeholders and target markets — they present meetings, provide training to far-flung outposts, and test marketing concepts, among others.

7. Twitter (2006)

Another “window onto the customer’s world”, Twitter is one form of social media that a lot of companies are struggling with.  With countless media mentions, Twitter flourished in 2009, but, like with Facebook, it takes time to establish a community of followers. Most companies seem to be waiting on others to develop a viable business model for Twitter. Maybe there isn’t one.

8. Windows Vista (2007) and Windows 7 (2009)

We’re experiencing plenty of headaches with both.  How about you?  Are these “improvements” to the Windows operating system improving your environment, or are you — like me — ready to chuck it all and move to Apple or Linux?

9. iPhone (2007)

Considered the pinnacle of wireless devices even before its release, the iPhone is the one thing businesspeople absolutely cannot do without — they all love the *@&#$%! out of it —  and it’s desperately in need of a new home.

Most users I know wish Apple hadn’t struck that exclusive agreement with a carrier that shall remain nameless — they can’t wait until other carriers can offer it.

10. The Global Financial Crisis (2007 – present)

There isn’t one company — with the possible exception of bankruptcy lawyers and auctioneers — that has come through these last two years unscathed.  And the worst part?  We saw it coming and we still couldn’t get out of the way.  Greed, hubris, stupidity, naivete — call it what you want.  We all “drank the Kool-Aid.”

What would you add to this list?  Why?  What was the most important development of the last decade in your opinion?

Best wishes to everyone.  I hope we all have a much, much better 2010!

Business continuity management — more commonly known as “disaster recovery”, even in the present day — used to be about worst-case scenarios.  That is:

“What is the worst thing that could befall my company, and how do I ensure minimal to no disruption of the company’s operations if that happens?”

Aftermath of 1906 San Francisco Quake

“What could happen” has traditionally centered on such events as:

• Natural disasters (fire, flood, storm, earthquake);
• Disasters of the human kind (terrorism, rioting, looting, etc.);
• Major utility outages; and
• IT system problems (malware attacks, hardware failures, etc.).

While the likelihood of such a catastrophic event is believed to be very small, its impact – if it occurred – would probably devastate the business, causing it to fail.

As computers have insinuated themselves into every facet of every type of business, and the importance of alignment of strategy and operations has been realized, the scope of “disaster recovery” has broadened.  More complex recovery systems have been devised to address companies’ needs on a more comprehensive basis.

However, we’re still focused primarily on disaster recovery — assuming that only the worst will happen – rather than using a truly comprehensive, risk-based approach to crisis and continuity management.  Instead of dwelling on the most unlikely of possibilities, we ought to be more concerned with:

• What threats are more likely to take shape than others?
• Which of those threats, if manifested, will have the greatest impact on the company, which will have the next-greatest impact, and so on?
• How will the company act to prevent those problems or minimize their effect?

I’m not suggesting that your company has to completely give up on the doomsday scenario.  However remote the possibility of a cataclysmic event, you want to be prepared.

I am saying that your business continuity management plan ought to cover the risks inherent in conducting day-to-day business as well as the remote possibilities…things like the current brittle economic environment, or risks to our business structure and processes (e.g., cloud computing, embezzlement, misuse of company information, swine flu).

What do you think?  Could your crisis and continuity management plan take a more comprehensive, risk-based approach? Are you satisfied with your current plan?  Do you even have a plan?

Or, are you counting on the world to end in 2012?  (In which case, I suppose, the whole crisis and continuity exercise is moot.)