All companies must have contingency plans designed to ensure their continuity regardless of unfortunate events that may occurs in their lifetime. It is for this purpose that organizations are continuously involved in developing and revising plans that are used to guide through an orderly process from a catastrophic. The process of disaster recovery planning is not as simple as it may appear.
Given that the plan is developed to protect an organization from total collapse in case of any unfortunate event, whether man-made or natural, it must be tested and certified before being adopted. In most of the occasions, the outcome of the planning process in normally documented into a formal manner and all employees directed on their roles as outlined in the document. The primary objective is to be caught prepared, orderly recovery and general organization stability.
In addition to minimizing loss and ensuring quickest possible recovery in case of a disaster, this plan also ensures that standby systems are serviceable and reliable, reducing needs for decision making in chaotic situations by making sure that course of action is well understood by all those who are involved. It also reduces the insurance premium rates as insurance companies are more comfortable with comprehensive and functional disaster recovery plans (DRP).
The disaster recovery planning process starts from a decision by the top level management. A proposal is drawn, presented and approved by the board of directors and top level managers. After this, a committee is formed to take charge of the process. The membership of this committee should cut across all functional departments in the organization with the chief members being the director of operations and the data processing manager.
A typical DRP involves several stages. It starts from understanding of the interconnections of all organization resources and activities followed by assessment of its vulnerability areas. After getting the insight on how organization can get affected in case of a disaster, a short term plan is developed. This will assist in developing a longer term recovery plan, prioritizing all areas of vulnerability. The planning is continuously tested and updated to respond to changing needs of the business.
After establishing the impacts and consequences that can result from the worst case scenario, the areas to be prioritized are then determined. All the operations and processes are analyzed to determine for how long they can run with critical system. The recovery strategies are them determined and evaluated for their effectiveness. This covers all aspects of the organization, with written specific alternatives and backup systems.
The strategies are then documented in a formal plan with specific steps that can be followed in the unlikely event. It also specifies the backup systems to be put in place and how to regularly maintain them to ensure they are always functional and responsive. The plan is then put to a thorough test involving checklist tests, simulation tests, parallel test and a full interruption test before final approval and implementation.
A disaster recovery planning goes beyond off-site storage or even backup processing. Well documented and very comprehensive DRP should able to address all critical aspects must be developed. This, just like liability insurance will provide some level of comfort and reduce the level of financial loss. Other than this, the probability of occurrence of adversity is also minimized.
Given that the plan is developed to protect an organization from total collapse in case of any unfortunate event, whether man-made or natural, it must be tested and certified before being adopted. In most of the occasions, the outcome of the planning process in normally documented into a formal manner and all employees directed on their roles as outlined in the document. The primary objective is to be caught prepared, orderly recovery and general organization stability.
In addition to minimizing loss and ensuring quickest possible recovery in case of a disaster, this plan also ensures that standby systems are serviceable and reliable, reducing needs for decision making in chaotic situations by making sure that course of action is well understood by all those who are involved. It also reduces the insurance premium rates as insurance companies are more comfortable with comprehensive and functional disaster recovery plans (DRP).
The disaster recovery planning process starts from a decision by the top level management. A proposal is drawn, presented and approved by the board of directors and top level managers. After this, a committee is formed to take charge of the process. The membership of this committee should cut across all functional departments in the organization with the chief members being the director of operations and the data processing manager.
A typical DRP involves several stages. It starts from understanding of the interconnections of all organization resources and activities followed by assessment of its vulnerability areas. After getting the insight on how organization can get affected in case of a disaster, a short term plan is developed. This will assist in developing a longer term recovery plan, prioritizing all areas of vulnerability. The planning is continuously tested and updated to respond to changing needs of the business.
After establishing the impacts and consequences that can result from the worst case scenario, the areas to be prioritized are then determined. All the operations and processes are analyzed to determine for how long they can run with critical system. The recovery strategies are them determined and evaluated for their effectiveness. This covers all aspects of the organization, with written specific alternatives and backup systems.
The strategies are then documented in a formal plan with specific steps that can be followed in the unlikely event. It also specifies the backup systems to be put in place and how to regularly maintain them to ensure they are always functional and responsive. The plan is then put to a thorough test involving checklist tests, simulation tests, parallel test and a full interruption test before final approval and implementation.
A disaster recovery planning goes beyond off-site storage or even backup processing. Well documented and very comprehensive DRP should able to address all critical aspects must be developed. This, just like liability insurance will provide some level of comfort and reduce the level of financial loss. Other than this, the probability of occurrence of adversity is also minimized.
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