The Basics of Disaster Recovery Planning

The digitalspace is increasing in complexity. As a result, the role and responsibilitiesof IT are increasing in difficulty as they need to protect the company from theonline world. Not only do they need to protect companies from online hackersbut they need to ensure strong technical infrastructures as well as protect thecompany’s data. Some of these incidents can be prevented, however; in the caseof natural disasters, IT needs to have a plan. That is where Disaster RecoveryPlanning comes in. In other words, it is the plan to get back to business. Inthis blog, we are going to cover the basics of Disaster Recovery Planning(DRP).

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What isDisaster Recovery?

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Disaster recovery is the ability to plan and retore your IT infrastructure including your data after a disaster. Examples include a natural disaster, hardware failures, ransomware, man-made disaster, a power outage, or human error. When a technical issue arises and breaks the flow of business, it is up to IT to ensure the company’s data is protected and that the business can get back into motion as quickly as possible.

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What isDisaster Recovery Planning?

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As you can imagine, Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) is a predetermined plan on how to resume work processes after unplanned technical or natural disasters. At the same time, it’s helpful in minimizing the effects of the disaster so the organization can proceed to operate or resume significant functions. It includes structures and documents describing how to take action. Without a DRP, it’s possible for businesses to experience lost productivity, lost revenue, an increase in costs, and even bankruptcy should a disaster hit.

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Why isDisaster Recovery Planning Important?

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DisasterRecovery Planning includes the analysis of the enterprise processes andcontinuity requirements. The organization needs to generate a detailed planincluding business impacts analysis, risk analysis, and recoveryobjectives. As technology advances it’s important for organizations toconsider and define data recovery and protection strategies to quickly handlethe incidences, reducing downtime and minimizing both financial andreputational damages. Additional data recovery planning helps the organizationensure it meets all the compliance needs, giving a clear roadmap to recoveries.

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Commondisasters that organizations should prepare for and document in their Disaster RecoveryPlan:

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• Datacenter disaster

• National Disaster

• Application failure

• Communication failure 

• Building Disaster

• Data Breach

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Start DRP atthe Top Management Level

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Your strategy should start at the organization's management-level. This helps determines which processes and components of the business are the most crucial business continuity in case of a disaster. At this level, the Recovery Time Objective and the Recovery Point Objective should be determined.  The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is a time, within which all operations must be back to normal after disaster strikes. The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is a maximum period on which data and operations can be lost between the last backup and the disruptive event. RPO is set by the company requirements and business continuity strategy.

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Then DisasterRecovery Planning should include the following:

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• Type of Data – What are you protecting?

• Technology – What are you protecting? What means do you have access to?

• Suppliers – Will suppliers help you? For example, Assurance IT helps the organization with a backup strategy that is less expensive than hosting it internally. You can contact us for more information here.

• Compliance needs – Are there any compliance requirements you need to meet?

• Insurances – What does your insurance policy include? Do you have insurance?

• Identify the response team should a disaster occur

• Business Impact Analysis – Potential losses if there is a disaster

• Risk Analysis – the risks if some parts of the plan are not included in the final version

• Recovery Objectives – How fast do you need to recover your data? At what point will it recover?

• Budget – What is your budget for data protection?

• Definitions – Keep all stakeholders on the same page. Define RTO, RPO, what characterizes as a disaster to your organization, and anything else that can be misinterpreted.

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Tips for DisasterRecovery Planning

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Documentation

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Establish each step of your Disaster Recovery Plan. Include diagrams, charts, and anything else that may assist the assigned team in case there is an emergency. Having documentation increases your chances of success and helps track adjustments as the organization changes.  

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Proper Data Recovery

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There are many methods to backup your data. Choosing the correctone is essential in your plan. We recommend the 3-2-1 Backup Rule as a good place to start.

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Test Regularly

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No matter howcareful we are, technology needs to be tested.

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Review the Disaster Recovery Plan Often

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As a rule ofthumb, we recommend reviewing the plan every time the organization goes througha shift. Usually, that is a growing phase. However, if that doesn’t happenoften, review your DRP plan at least once a year.

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Types of DisasterRecovery

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The four types of Disaster Recovery Plans include Hot DR, Cold DR, back-up only, and Virtual DR. Our recommendation is that you have a backup of your data that you can replicate whenever you need it. As a result, business continuity remains intact and nothing is lost. As Disaster Recovery experts we specialize in Disaster Recovery as a Service and Data Replication. This allows us to help organizations obtain the best data protection at an affordable price. Contact us to discuss your DR needs today.

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References:

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Awasthi, A. (2020). Disaster Recovery-Foundation Pillars. Int Sci Res, 9(1), 1360-1362.

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https://www.cio.com/article/3090892/8-ingredients-of-an-effective-disaster-recovery-plan.html

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https://mksh.com/5-elements-of-a-disaster-recovery-plan-is-your-business-prepared/

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https://www.empowerit.com.au/blog/it-planning/different-types-disaster-recovery-plans/

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Mabon, L.(2019). Enhancing post-disaster resilience by ‘building back greener’:Evaluating the contribution of nature-based solutions to recovery planning inFutaba County, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Landscape and urban planning,187, 105-118.

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Soni, V. D.(2020). Disaster Recovery Planning: Untapped Success Factor in an Organization.Available at SSRN 3628630.

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Surianarayanan,C., & Chelliah, P. R. (2019). Disaster Recovery. In Essentials of CloudComputing (pp. 291-304). Springer, Cham.

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Yusmita, F., Abidin, S. B., & Fitri, F. A. (2020). Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) Adoption for Accounting Information Systems. In Proceedings Aceh Global Conference-Business, Economics, and Sustainable Development Trends (Vol. 2, p. 167).

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