There is no "PERFECT" business Recovery Plan.
Just as there is no perfect disaster, there is no perfect recovery
plan. No matter how well you plan, no one can foresee all possible
emergency situations that can arise. Keep the plan(s) structured
in design to add contingencies as required.
There is plenty of help available
for the planning phase of your business' recovery. If
you need help in the planning phase, there are many organizations
that can help you, such as excellent consultants, hot-site vendors,
business recovery services, software vendors and yes, The DataCenter.
RULES OF THUMB:
- be mindful that a conflict of interest
may exist. Always ask if they have a financial interest in any
services that their plan recommends.
- The more your organization follows
a structured "business unit" outline, the more confident
you should feel in taking on the planning project yourself.
- The more your organization is dependent
upon other parts and processes, with multiple overlapping layers
and systems, the more feasible external help becomes.
Keep it SIMPLE.
The best planning is simple planning. Make
sure that reading and following the recovery plan DOES NOT require
an overly technical person. MAKE THE PLAN MODULAR BASED UPON BUSINESS
UNITS OR FUNCTIONS.
Vital assets require multiple "layers"
of protection.
The higher the risk and the bigger the impact
from loss, the higher the required protection. This is often times
difficult to determine. Do a Business Impact Analysis to determine
high risk and high loss assets. Protect them with layers of physical
security and logical planning.
Stay focused on your priorities.
If your operation is dependent upon crucial
competitive advantages, you should focus most of your time and
energy on that problem first. Then, turn your attention to recovering
your information. Put the focus where the BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS
points you.
Not every solution or situation can be tested.
Keep in mind that not all possibilities can
be determined, planned for, and tested. Even the best tested and
most comprehensive recovery plan can fail.
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