Tips for Building an IT Disaster Recovery Plan

Tips for Building an IT Disaster Recovery Plan

Growing cybersecurity threats make IT resilience an important part of business recovery strategies. Computer networks and the data that drives business operations have become a kind of capital, and much like any sound investment, need to be protected. Downtime of data networks and blockages or loss of key data could be extremely costly for your organization.

Misconceptions remain about what it takes to have IT resilience. For example, even if you employ cloud-based solutions to help store and safeguard information, it does not mean that your process is free of error and can easily be recovered. To help create your IT resilience plan, take a holistic understanding of which data is vital to business operations, what recovery mechanisms that are in place, the hardware and software you have in your inventory, and the crucial points of information that are captured.

Cyber Resilience

Infrastructure plays a big role in developing the right IT disaster recovery plan for your organization. It will also be important to consider factors of business continuity to help categorize which data is vital to disrupted operations. Knowing where IT systems fit into the existing business continuity plan can help management teams understand organizational priorities when creating safeguarding strategies. Keep in mind that the data itself, while the most important part of the equation, is not the only item that needs to be considered. You will also need to consider components used to access data such as employee devices as well as the infrastructure your company has on site.

Quantifying Exposure Risk

Another key to any risk mitigation and continuity plan is the risks in terms of exposure as well as the consequences associated with a loss of data. Various thresholds regarding system downtime as well as lapses in database networks should be audited. Key personnel and those already responsible for data integrity will help identify parts of the system that cannot be compromised under any circumstances. Opening this line of communication will also be critical to understanding those that need to be contacted first in case of an emergency to make sure that crucial data is not lost.

Documenting Plans

Simply knowing what to do in case of an emergency is half the battle. SaaS providers, data services, and other third-party vendors should already have documentation relating to emergency scenarios for communicating business continuity issues to their clients. Shoring up those policies in terms of your organization is essential to ensuring that your teams will be able to navigate uncontrolled circumstances smoothly.

Testing Protocols

Best laid plans are often easily corrupted. Testing your own resilience to disaster should be something that you not only plan for, but put into practice in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of a proposed plan. It is certainly a challenge to imagine how to prepare for disasters that have yet to occur, so it is important to understand what is crucial for operations. It is wise to structure regular tests of data recovery mechanisms so that you clearly understand how to implement your strategy in case of an emergency.

Back-Ups

Backing-up essential data will be key, and should also be documented in plans for business continuity. Ideally, members of your organization already have a protocol to collect data on external devices in addition to the data housed on servers.

It is easy to forget the importance of frequently transmitted data, particularly with cloud-computing applications. Just because data has been collected does not always mean it can be recovered, however. Consider examining data collection practices and identify where there are gaps in terms of the lifecycle of data from when it is captured to how it is stored. Many companies have begun to leverage various platforms to help collect as well as store data so there is not a single point of contingency.

Getting Started

Getting started on understanding your IT infrastructure as well as putting your plan in place can be easier said than done depending on your level of comfortability with the understanding of your systems. Even if you have a strong conception of technology and how it impacts your business, the nuts and bolts, or in this case, the software and circuits, might not be at the top of mind.

For more information, please contact Ray Gandy or another member of our team.


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Cyber resilience should be part of every disaster recoveryplan.

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