How to Plan for Disaster Recovery
When a disaster strikes, daily life is difficult, including the daily life of a business. During any type of disaster, a business stands to lose any data it has collected, including paper documents and computer files. It is important for all businesses, especially those in areas prone to disasters, to create a disaster recovery plan that can be implemented in the case of an emergency. This plan will help a business to recover any data that may be lost during a disaster.
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Instructions
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Establish a committee to evaluate the company, and develop a disaster recovery plan. Either the owners or managers of a company should choose employees to represent all areas of the company to ensure that all aspects of data recovery are covered.
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Evaluate the level of risk for the business and what type of risks exist. These threats may include computer viruses, fires and floods. Assess the likelihood of each threat, as well as its potential damage level.
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Assess the potential impact to the business of each type of disaster. Consider the worst-case scenario to create the best plan possible.
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Establish a list of priorities. Detemine in what order data recovery should take place. Which areas within the business, such as customer databases, production orders and billing systems, should be recovered first? What are the most important aspects to save? Who should be involved in the recovery? The type of recovery, such as locating papers or restarting a computer system, may dictate which parts of data recovery are more easily done first.
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Create plans to recover any lost data and get the business moving again. Write the plans out in detail so any employee can follow it.
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Determine which strategies are best used with each scenario. For instance, the strategy for data recovery after a fire will be different than that of recovery after a computer virus.
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Price the options for each plan so that the business can create a budget for disaster recovery. Changes may need to be made to fit the plan into the company's available funds. Include aspects such as insurance policies necessary, backup systems and maintenance of those systems.
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Assign tasks to each department and position. Establish a leader for each department and assign authority to the owner or CEO of the company. Name one person to back up each leadership position in case someone is missing or absent after the disaster. When the company works together during disaster recovery, the recovery happens more quickly. Be specific so that no one will question what to do in the event of an emergency.
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Test the plan to ensure that it will work properly and to train the other employees to use it. The initial test will show how well the plan works and any places that need improvement. Additional tests should be scheduled on a regular basis to keep employees familiar with the plan.
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Present the plan to the owners or managers of the company for approval. Be prepared to answer questions and take all criticisms into consideration for further development of the plan.
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References
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