As business needs change, so do
disaster recovery plans. It is, therefore, important that the plan is updated and that a clearly defined process for its ongoing revision and maintenance is outlined.
Businesses should stage "mock disasters" at least once a year and follow the procedures outlined in the contingency or
disaster recovery plan. Testing helps businesses determine if their plan addresses their needs and if it will assist in expediting the recovery process.
Disaster recovery plans should be current, fire-tested and address the area that could be hit, diverting resources to mitigate loss and resume full operations.
"When we developed our
disaster recovery plan, we took some cues from the business world," says Keith Price, chief technology officer for Hoover City Schools in Alabama, which fortunately hasn't had to implement its
disaster recovery plan yet, despite being near an area known as Tornado Alley.
What aspects of the CFO unit's business continuity plan would you consider critical to an effective
disaster recovery plan?
A full and complete
disaster recovery plan is needed.
To be successful, your
disaster recovery plan needs to objectively examine your entire business operation: information technology, facilities management, communications support, public relations, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, human resources, etc.
The good news is that the completed
disaster recovery plan will provide you with extra insurance to secure the survival of your pharmacy business in the event of a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina or Rita.
The city required a reliable
disaster recovery plan to decentralise critical data and enable lost data to be restored more quickly in the event of downtime.
A good voice
disaster recovery plan will address all those possibilities," says ARG President William H.
In today's information-centric environment, much of a
disaster recovery plan addresses IT systems and data loss.
Some organizations just want to be able to answer outside constituencies by saying, "Well yes, we do have a written
disaster recovery plan." Maybe formulating or updating one is part of the risk manager's to-do list.
