Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Thinkable and Unthinkable
Most businesses may think they will never need a disaster recovery plan or they have everything under control, but they are wrong. It is vital that all businesses take the opportunity to protect itself before they regret it. A serious event can occur at any moment.
The officers or board of directors often take this task to labor. It is a good practice for the business to demonstrate a clear commitment to establishing and maintaining an effective disaster recovery plan. All employees should be informed that it is required and should contribute to its design.
The first step is to create a list of all necessary documents and information. Examples of documents are organizational chart, suppliers and contact information, emergency services and contact information, operations and administrative procedures, inventories of intellectual properties and floor plans. These are just a few of the many documents needed.
The disaster recovery plan should include a descriptive list of the organization's major business areas. This list should rank the areas in order of importance to the overall organization. Each item should include a brief description of the business processes and main dependencies on systems, communications, personnel, and information / data.
You should perform a regular review of your plan in order to adapt to changes that the business will surely go through. This is very seldom done by businesses and cost more in the long run when ignored. The risk your business faces as the result of a disaster or emergency must be assessed. It is impossible to plan for ‘what if’ in the face of disaster if you do not assess what could happen first. You have to consider all possibilities and what it would take to put the business back in business.
There are various threats that can affect your business. Examples include tornado, hurricane, flood, earthquake, fire, terrorism, theft, and equipment failure. There are many more and they all have to be taken in account.
Every business has non-personnel assets that must be considered when creating the disaster recovery plan. The solution is redundant systems when possible. The secondary market is a great source for these systems to keep the cost down.
Every employee should be aware of their part in this plan. It is vital to keep the plan up to date and the employees well informed. Be sure to test your plan to identify any gaps.
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