Really, I’m not looking to create extra work or agita for you. But have you heard about this whole 2012 business?
I'm not talking about the New Age/Mayan/Egyptian/Nostradamus/Bible Code/Hopi/IChing/Edgar Cayce prophecies about the End of The World as We Know It on Dec. 21, 2012. For better or worse, chances are growing you’ll encounter the media trumpeting of the cosmic gloom/doom/re-bloom foreseen by various ancients, notably a new History Channel program, coverage in Newsweek and a new movie from Sony starring, among others, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover as President Wilson, scheduled for release this fall. If these predictions come to pass, keeping the routers powered up or distributing the latest Windows patch (a last valiant gesture, perhaps, against the inevitable “Quetzalcoatl Worm”) will be the least of our concerns.
No, I’m talking about a related, slightly less dramatic, less discussed possibility—one that could make life, should it persist, so awful that we’ll wish the dawning of the Age of Aquarius really had swooshed us off into the cosmos. Namely, a decade of major solar storms forecasted to peak in late 2012, which more and more non-kooky scientists—including NASA, NOAA and The National Academies of Science (part of the U.S. Congress)—say could wipe out the world’s electrical grids as well as all satellite, Internet, network and wireless communications for years.
Sounds far-fetched, I know. I’m sure if it doesn’t already have one, Gartner will soon issue an advisory on this matter, so we can see exactly what degree of risk we’re facing here. (Probability the Power Grid Destroyer will resemble the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man: .76)
Until then, it’s probably not a bad idea to get a basic grasp of this, perhaps the way-biggest, granddaddy/grandmommy of risk management/business continuity challenges in recorded history. If nothing else, it could be a boost to you career if, post harmonic convergence, such a thing still exists. (Yeah, I was into the whole Y2K12 mitigation thing back in like, I don’t know, mid-2009. Yeah, really ...) Also, acting now could help you avoid the inevitable last-minute rush at your favorite supplier of backup generators or ammo.
