Network Disaster Recovery Plan Team
Preventive Measures for IT Disaster
Preventive measures for business continuity usually involve a thorough Disaster Recovery plan that goes beyond a simple network disaster recovery plan. In light of current economic conditions, Activsupport understands that it's difficult to invest time and money into something that is only of use in the unlikely event that a disaster occurs. This may sound like a hard pill to swallow: however building a good Disaster Recovery plan may help an organization by more than just offering protection in the case of a flood or earthquake.
Common situations that can be covered under a well-designed plan:
How many of us have had their ISP end their services over the past few months? Yes, a disaster recovery plan includes ISP contingency planning, and can be applied not only in the event of an earthquake, but also when a supplier goes out of business.
How fast and accurately can you document a claim that involves digital assets with your insurance carrier? A good disaster recovery plan can help you recover your losses more efficiently.
Disaster Recovery planning can be of use in many other ways, even as a competitive advantage For example: As an insurance broker, imagine the following scenario:
An earthquake hits San Francisco, communication is disrupted and businesses are struggling to turn their business continuity plans into reality in the disaster's aftermath. As an insurance broker your ability to communicate and process data at this time will be your greatest asset. Some businesses will contact their broker's only to find busy signals if any signal at all. However, if you have a well-designed Disaster Recovery plan you will come out well ahead of the competition. This could be a great way to differentiate your brokerage from another.
Basic Disaster Recovery planning includes procedures for backup & restore, user access, and security policies. As mention earlier, it can also include ISP contingency planning.
Network backup restore policies and procedures are probably the most basic elements of proper planning. However, many companies don't use any concrete methods for conducting daily, weekly, or even monthly backups. Many organizations don't even take the tapes offsite for safe storage. And what about those tapes? How do you choose a safe repository for your tapes? Which provider do you choose? How do you choose them? You may initially consider shipping the tapes out of the region in case there is an earthquake in the Bay Area. But what if it takes forever to get your data back from the provider when you really need it? How safe is your data in a repository anyway?
But backup is only part of the equation; organizations must also think about their internal policies with regard to where data is stored. Often many organizations don't monitor their employee's data storage habits. This leaves a great deal of important information on individual's desktops and on CD ROM's that may just be thrown in someone's desk drawer.
Disaster Recovery planning can be frustrating and difficult, seemingly an overwhelming task. If and when a disaster occurs, all the effort will seem worth it. The easiest way to develop a proper plan is to break it down to the most basic elements. Let's start with the easiest element, tracking down contributors. Having multiple directories is a must and having a few people responsible for making copies of the corporate directory every week to their palm pilot is a start. At least you will be able to contact your customers when your systems are down.
It's also important to think about the accessibility of your business systems. Can you access your business systems from the web? Are you using client server architecture? Will you be able to re-image your systems at a pre-selected location? Will you be able to get your data backup and running?
When developing a plan it's important to remember that you're not just preparing yourself in the case of a natural disaster but also man-made ones too, such as security breaches. With the right plan you can avoid embarrassing and potentially destructive situations no matter which type of disaster you experience. This is why ActivSupport's Next Generation Disaster Recovery Planning services include a review of your current network disaster recovery plan and security efforts. We ensure that all efforts are made to protect your business no matter what happens. From earthquake to disgruntled employee, a proper network disaster recovery plan can prevent costly consequences.
Read on about Disaster Recovery Planning:
IT Disaster Legal Factors
IT Disaster Prevention
IT Disaster Mitigation
All of the insurance coverage mentioned in this article can be secured through Mr. Bob Marrone (Phone: 510-832-8000 x135), an excellent insurance agent that we have worked with for over 6 years and helped us write this article.
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