Disaster Recovery Homework
A Backup Article Contributed by Melissa Larose
Disaster Recovery Homework
Just because you aren't in school any more don't think there isn't any homework because disaster recovery always requires homework, homework and imagination. That's because disaster recovery needs can happen suddenly and may require a lot of consideration before a proper plan is put into place.
Simple Disaster Recovery
Look, some parts to a disaster recovery plan can be so simple. Does the receptionist have all the emergency numbers she needs? Does she know what order to call everyone in incase something happens on her shift? Does her backup know them too? Does she even have a backup? Is your IT department prepared in case of an electrical outage? Do they have a backup plan to preserve the company data? Have they been using it and has anyone checked the backup data to make sure the backups work properly?
Does your security team know who they can allow in the building and who not to allow into the building during a disaster? Do you know who to get your critical supplies and inventory from if a disaster has wiped them out? If IT needs new computers ASAP, once they are delivered do you have a place to put them or did the natural disaster destroy your space?
It sounds so simple, yet many companies never consider the simple needs when planning for disaster recovery.
Why Have a Disaster Recovery Plan?
There are some very real reasons to create a disaster recovery plan. The first reason is to continue doing business. You will want to do that, right?
Increased dependency of most businesses on technology has lead to production and sales systems being computerized. Without a disaster recovery plan these businesses create a high risk of loss if those systems go down for extended periods of time. This is loss of production time, loss of services and sales, and possible loss of customers, not to mention revenue. This increased dependency also includes all information systems.
If disaster strikes these systems without a disaster recovery plan a company looks at a potential loss of critical or sensitive data, not to mention the cost of down time for employees affected by this loss or lost access to the data.
Management needs to recognize the impact that a disastrous incident can have on a business. It is a serious issue if they do not have a formal document that outlines the processes to follow when disaster strikes.
Disaster Recovery Concerns
The years since 2000 have seen an increase in incidents of cyber crime, terrorist sabotage, and damaging computer viruses. It seems those that have the intent to do harm are getting smarter and more creative as the minutes tick by. The intent for creating a disaster recovery plan can be many but for an IT department disaster recovery plans can lower costs and increase the likelihood that IT has adequate security in place. The recovery plans should alleviate the impact of disruptive events. Most importantly a company would want to avoid business failure in the heat of a disaster recovery.
