If you take out the few weather-specific references, this article sounds like it could've been written right after 9/11. I don't know, maybe these "IT" people or companies in this apparently Manhattan-centric article weren't even around then.

I remember many of the big banks and financial companies scrambled to set up pretty elaborate alternate offices outside Manhattan, mostly in New Jersey, after 9/11. I wonder how long those lasted until some bean counter decided it was an unjustifiable expense? Must cost a pretty penny to keep a ghost office mothballed, just in case.

And one big change since 9/11 is the explosion in cloud computing. Of course, the term "IT" encompasses lots of different functions beyond what cloud computing provides, but the ability to instantly and seamlessly transfer your computing needs to various data centers around the world allows even small companies now to have a high level of reliability and redundancy that only the big boys could afford ten years ago. You don't even have to own your own data centers. Just pay for what you need from third party cloud computing companies like Amazon Web Services.

The human element will always be the most unpredictable and irreplacable element to plan for, I think, and I agree that making it #1 is probably a good call.

I'm glad that I don't see any rats swimming around in that flooded Verizon lobby...