Disaster Recovery Plan

Introduction

"Disaster recovery planning consists of a set of activities aimed at reducing the likely hood and limiting the impact of disaster events on critical business processes" (Harrald 604).

The disaster recovery plan, which should address various levels of response to a number of possible disasters and should provide for partial or complete recovery of all data, application software, network components, and physical facilities.

The recovery plan should have specific goals for different types of disasters.

Criteria Used to select a Disaster Recovery Plan

The choice of a disaster recovery plan will be based upon costs of the extra provision vs. the potential cost of disaster. Factors which will be taken into account include:

The scale of the organization and its IT systems;

The nature of the operation: an online system may need to be restored within hours whereas a customer billing operation may not be harmed until a few days, so long as no data is lost;

The relative costs of different options: a company with several sites linked by telecommunication may be able to formulate a disaster recovery plan which temporarily moves operation to an alternative site, but need not involve a cold site or hot site provided by a third party;

The perceived likelihood of disaster occurring: companies in earthquake zone around San Francisco, for example are likely to invest more in a disaster recovery service than an average firm in Wales.

Objectives of a Disaster Recovery Plan

Before creating a disaster response plan a list of the objectives for the plan should be considered. Here are some of the objectives that might want to be considered.

•Safety and welfare to the people on the premises at the time of the disaster

•Protection of critical information and records

•Protection of business sites and facilities

•Protection and availability of materials, supplies and equipment for the safety and recovery of vital records

•Minimize the duration of disasters

•Reduction of the immediate damage and loss

•Business contingency in the event of a disaster

•Recovery of lost and damaged records or lost information after a disaster

Disaster recovery procedures are designed to reduce the aftermath of disasters and to ensure recovery of the business operations. To achieve its purpose, a disaster recovery plan must have the following characteristics:

Authority

Disasters often result in chaos when they are not adequately planed for. (Sally 159-165)A disaster response plan clearly states the flow of authority in times of a disaster. It is also necessary to specify the roles and responsibilities of individuals in level of authority.

Process

The response to and recovery from disasters involves a set of processes and procedures that need to be performed. These processes and procedures should be clearly specified in a disaster recovery plan.

Accessibility

A disaster recovery plan should be accessible in times of need. To facilitate accessibility, the plan should be created in a format that is accessible during a disaster.

Effective Disaster Recovery Planning

An effective disaster recovery plan should aim to cover some or all of the following points.

•Assessment of which systems are critical for business continuity detailed in order of importance - e.g. Customer Relationship Management ...