When implementing an IT disaster recovery plan, it is imperative to determine your needs and infrastructure. For example, you should determine your recovery time objective and recovery point objectives depending on your industry and business functions. Recovery point objectives are the amount of data your business is willing to lose in the event of a disaster, usually based on the last backup. Once you have identified these goals, it is time to develop an IT disaster recovery plan that will ensure your business is always open and ready to go.
Plan for data recovery
Businesses produce vast amounts of data, which often changes throughout the workday. The risks of losing this information are numerous: hardware failure, human error, malware, and hacking. To prevent the loss of data, disaster recovery planning is an essential component of a business continuity plan or IT disaster recovery plan. Backup procedures include identifying data to be backed up, selecting hardware and software, and scheduling backups. A written plan is essential for disaster recovery.
Inventory of IT assets
During the data collection phase, take the time to conduct an inventory of IT assets. It is a good idea to conduct these inventories in parallel with executive interviews. This will help you gather information about all of the different types of assets and their relative importance for your business. During the executive interviews, make sure to clarify your understanding of the IT assets so you can address the most important issues before disaster strikes. If you are unable to gather information from executives, create an IT asset inventory that will provide you with all of the information you need.
Develop a plan
Developing a plan for IT disaster recovery is a crucial part of your company’s business continuity strategy. While one-size-fits-all plans do exist, they are not effective for a range of situations. Your plan must be a collaborative effort between departments and specific people should be assigned roles and responsibilities. Disaster recovery is a crucial part of business continuity, and without a plan, your business will be in danger of losing valuable data and experience severe downtime.
Test it regularly
To improve your IT disaster recovery plan, you should perform regular tests. Tabletop exercises are a good way to test your disaster plan. In these exercises, you should simulate various scenarios and the responses that your staff would need in case of a disaster. During the tests, representatives from various departments should be present. If you aren’t confident in your ability to replicate real scenarios, you can hire a third party to simulate them for you.
Develop a plan with top management
A comprehensive plan should consider the business impact and risk assessment of every threat. For example, fire is the most common risk to an organization, but intentional human destruction should also be considered. The plan should address the worst-case scenarios and determine what mitigation measures are necessary to minimize exposures. It is imperative that a disaster recovery plan be tailored to the business’s unique needs and resources. The planning committee should create the Toronto disaster recovery plan that includes key features to protect critical business information from damage.