In order to develop a successful disaster recovery plan, a company must consider a lot of different things. Sometimes, these are called disaster recovery plans, because when the computing system of a company crashes, it can often be disastrous to the company in that data is lost, processes are corrupted, and jobs can be lost.
A good plan is written out in a way that even the non-technical people in the company can understand the proper procedure should a disaster occur. The plan should also reside in a place like a public folder or employee handbook so that it is easily accessible at all times. Since systems, personnel, and other things in a company can change so frequently, it is important to keep the disaster recovery plan is updated every time there is a change within the company. This can sound tedious, but what good is a business disaster recovery plan if it is not up to date?
A hot or cold site needs to be designated for business proceedings to resume should the facility where the corporation is housed becomes damaged. A hot site is ready for the company to resume business as (almost) usual. A cold site is a place for people to gather and go over the plan to decide on a recovery plan of action, but is not equipped to handle the day-to-day business. In a company that has multiple locations, often the hot site of one piece of the building will actually be in another location or building that belongs to the business. If this is not an option, the hot or cold site might reside at a third part IT provider's business location, or someplace else. There is also the option of a warm site, which will not have all the business capabilities of a hot site, but will have some.
The most important part of a business continuity plan is data backup. Data backups need to happen very frequently, so that data can be recovered should a system crash occur. Systems should be protected from threats via firewalls and other methods, but data should be protected via backup should a damaging or altering incident occur.
One good way to make sure your data is safe is to store your data and system backups at an offsite location. Third party companies can be useful and helpful for this, but you will need to verify that their systems and methods are secure, and that the company is ethical.
Testing the disaster recovery plan is also important. A drill should be performed every once in a while to determine that the plan is without holes and to make sure that employees understand the drill, should a disaster happen for real.
To make sure this is all planned and executed properly, someone needs to be in charge of the disaster recovery plan. Sometimes an entire department is devoted to this initiative, and other times a committee is in charge. Even still, some companies outsource this complicated and important piece of the business to make sure it is managed properly.
A good plan is written out in a way that even the non-technical people in the company can understand the proper procedure should a disaster occur. The plan should also reside in a place like a public folder or employee handbook so that it is easily accessible at all times. Since systems, personnel, and other things in a company can change so frequently, it is important to keep the disaster recovery plan is updated every time there is a change within the company. This can sound tedious, but what good is a business disaster recovery plan if it is not up to date?
A hot or cold site needs to be designated for business proceedings to resume should the facility where the corporation is housed becomes damaged. A hot site is ready for the company to resume business as (almost) usual. A cold site is a place for people to gather and go over the plan to decide on a recovery plan of action, but is not equipped to handle the day-to-day business. In a company that has multiple locations, often the hot site of one piece of the building will actually be in another location or building that belongs to the business. If this is not an option, the hot or cold site might reside at a third part IT provider's business location, or someplace else. There is also the option of a warm site, which will not have all the business capabilities of a hot site, but will have some.
The most important part of a business continuity plan is data backup. Data backups need to happen very frequently, so that data can be recovered should a system crash occur. Systems should be protected from threats via firewalls and other methods, but data should be protected via backup should a damaging or altering incident occur.
One good way to make sure your data is safe is to store your data and system backups at an offsite location. Third party companies can be useful and helpful for this, but you will need to verify that their systems and methods are secure, and that the company is ethical.
Testing the disaster recovery plan is also important. A drill should be performed every once in a while to determine that the plan is without holes and to make sure that employees understand the drill, should a disaster happen for real.
To make sure this is all planned and executed properly, someone needs to be in charge of the disaster recovery plan. Sometimes an entire department is devoted to this initiative, and other times a committee is in charge. Even still, some companies outsource this complicated and important piece of the business to make sure it is managed properly.
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