CTO CONNECTION: Backing into disaster - Sometimes the most pedestrian procedures are the ones that really protect your job.(backup systems management; chief technical officer)

"What is the best way to fire half my IT staff with minimal disruption?" It's not often that I receive calls asking me questions as pointed and desperate as this one, but I got just such a call from a friend of a friend who recently had been given the responsibility of running IT at her company. Although she doesn't come from a purely technical background, she knows enough to understand her situation is dire. Four months of company e- mail has been lost and simply can't be recovered by the IT staff. They have tried everything, and she's ready to pull the plug on those involved -- and I really can't blame her. Sometimes bad things happen in IT, but such a massive failure is …