Saturday, July 28, 2012

What Businesses Need to Know Regarding Disaster Recovery Planning

The goal of disaster recovery planning is to make sure that a business can survive an event that destroys the IT network. Many businesses never financially recover from an event that destroys its servers because they don't have a short-term way to restore network capability. A large percentage of them go out of business less than a year after the event. Most businesses are aware of the need for a recovery plan, but some do not realize that the plan should contain knowledge that typically comes from speaking with recovery planning IT consulting groups.

More Than Data Storage

Some businesses believe that storing data offsite is an effective strategy for recovering from the destruction of the IT network. Nothing is further from the truth. Although backing up data offsite is an essential aspect of a recovery plan, businesses need a way to migrate offsite data onto new servers after a catastrophic event. They may also need a temporary business location for the servers and other network components. This is where a service partner that specializes in recovery planning can help. In addition to helping the customer develop a plan of action, the partner also deploys temporary hardware and establishes a temporary business location, where the company operates until a permanent location is found.

Developing the Plan

For some companies, carrying out the recovery plan is actually easier than developing it. This is often because the plan experiences internal obstacles to its development and implementation, especially at a time when cutting costs often takes precedence over new initiatives. According to IT consulting groups that specialize in disaster recovery planning, developing a plan typically consists of the following steps:

    Building a Governance Structure - The governance structure is composed of a working committee and an oversight committee that address the financial and technical aspects of the plan.

    Selecting a Service Partner - The governance structure selects a service partner to help develop and implement the plan. If necessary, the service partner will help the plan's advocates build a compelling initiative for its implementation.

    Developing a Plan and Strategy - The customer works with the service partner to develop the best plan and strategy. A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is performed, which helps form the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) goals.

    Executing and Maintaining the Plan - After the plan is developed, it is tested. Over time, the plan is adjusted according to the customer's needs.

These are the basic steps that companies take to develop and implement a recovery plan. A provider of business continuity services will discuss the steps in greater detail.

Conclusion

Without a recovery plan in place, many companies go out of business when an event destroys the IT network. Although companies cannot prevent unforeseen disasters, they can plan for them by taking the steps listed above. For more information on keeping businesses viable in the wake of an event that takes down the IT system, speak with IT consulting groups that specialize in disaster planning today.

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