What is a disaster recovery plan and what should it include?

Fires, severe weather, terrorist attacks and cyber-attacks are all disaster events that can happen to a business at any time.

Having a disaster recovery plan in place is making your business is ready for any such eventuality.  Put quite simply, a disaster recovery plan is a process which includes a key set of procedures that aim to recover or protect the IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster.

A disaster recovery plan is developed to minimise any serious impact on the business and to set out a clear approach for action and quick resolution.

So, what should a disaster recovery plan include?

1. An analysis of all potential threats and a defined process for each one.

2. A business impact analysis to determine where the potential impact lies and if certain systems need to be prioritised during the recovery process.

3. A full checklist of all individuals who are to be involved and responsible for putting the disaster recovery plan into action. This should also include persons to be communicated to throughout the process.

4. Easy to follow steps and instructions that are understood by the individuals who have been instructed to follow them.

5. Back up solutions for your business’ data. Having a cloud solution in place enables ease of data recovery when disasters happen.

6. A list of priority systems to ensure the most important are dealt with first.

7. A third party contact list. There may be hardware and software suppliers you will need to contact in the event of a disaster.

A disaster recovery plan shouldn’t be a document left untouched once it’s been completed. 

It’ll need to be constantly updated every time your internal systems change.

A disaster recovery plan is a business’ response to an event of a serious nature.  Don’t wait until the cyber attack or natural disaster has happened and then try and work out what to do.  Plan ahead and have a process in place so your team can act fast.  Loss of data can lead to a demise of a business.

Fifteen Group is a Managed IT Services Provider who work with businesses across all sectors ensuring they are prepared for any eventuality.

We make sure businesses are always Smarter through Technology.

For more information, please go to Disaster Recovery and Back Up

or

contact us where a member of our team will be happy to help.