Disaster Recovery Planning

The disaster recovery plan, also known as a contingency plan or a business continuity plan, chalks out the process a company will follow in order to restore services with the minimum of fuss after a disaster occurs. To create such a plan, an organization has to identify its critical business functions and clarify how its operations will be affected if these functions are not available after a disaster. It should establish the extent of human and computer resources that will be required for disaster recovery.

Whether it is a terrorist attack as in 9/11, a flood, earthquake, volcanic eruption or a fire, the consequences of such disasters can be severe.

For example, after being hit by a disaster, an insurance company should be able to access its customer data backup so that it can continue to process policy claims without delay. In fact, the financial industry has certainly taken disaster recovery planning more seriously than before 9/11, and according to Tower Group, is investing 26% more in such plans.

However, 54% of the companies surveyed dedicate less than 1% of their budget to disaster recovery. Backup options are so rife, that many IT managers just cannot decide which ones to choose, but everyone wants the most protection for the least amount of money.

Lessons Learnt from 9/11

Director of NY information services at Sidley Austin, Dennis O'Donovan, was in his office in the World Trade Center’s north tower when the terrorist attack occurred. He shares the lessons he learned on that terrible day. The company increased its focus on remote access; diversified its carrier feeds, and added voice carriers for its wide area circuits. It also clarified the roles employees would play in the event of an emergency.

Bill Crichton of Hewlett–Packard learnt that companies require a backup data centre which is situated away from their main data centre.

Merrill Lynch lost two data centres during the attack, and decided to move its main data centre to Staten Island, where it could run on a separate electrical grid.

Bob Piggott of HSBC learnt that keeping employees informed about what’s happening is crucial. In the UK, all their staff members have a telephone number they can call to get an updated status message in case of an emergency.

Morgan Stanley conducts major tests annually. The organization also tests business processes twice a year.

The Ideal Disaster Recovery Plan

Write down the disaster recovery plan in a clear and concise manner so anyone can follow the instructions. Keep it practical.

Specify a succession plan for your CEO.

Test and update your plan. Morgan Stanley conducts major tests annually. The organization also tests business processes twice a year.

Train employees to perform emergency backup operations, as the people you normally count on may not be available.

Find out whether your disaster recovery service is able to provide emergency desk space, so that people can get back to work in the shortest possible time. Usually, emergency desk space is shared with other companies. The service provider assumes that multiple requests for desk space are not likely to come in simultaneously. But when a major disaster affects a large area (as in 9/11), this becomes inevitable.

Also, although these providers predict that recovery will happen within days, or at the most, two to three weeks, this is not possible when the catastrophe is like 9/11. Therefore, companies should provide for alternate premises so that the business can continue normally.

Determine places off-site where top executives can meet during a crisis.

Involve all employees (even executives) in the exercises. Make these exercises realistic enough so you can tell how they will react during times of stress.

Practise crisis communication with your employees, as well as your customers and the outside world.

Invest in an optional method of communication in case the phone networks get affected.

Get to know local emergency services such as firefighters, and the police so they can get familiar with your company.

Disasters like 9/11 are unpredictable but you can be prepared.

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk

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