HILLSBORO, Oregon (CNN) -- One of Derek Smith's first assignments as the corporate sustainability manager for the catalog and retail company Norm Thompson Outfitters was to travel to California to study the environmental impact of cotton growing.

CNN: Catalog company going lean and green

And then there are people who aren't so well-known but whose data crises could cripple their businesses--like the IT manager of the New York City publisher that lost its catalog data three days before deadline.

CNN: Data crisis counselors help avoid computer catastrophes