| What is the mistake? Focusing your disaster | | | | or near normal capacity levels under even the |
| recovery plan template on technology first and | | | | most challenging conditions. |
| business process priorities second. | | | | Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, |
| This might sound like a strange statement coming | | | | wrapped up in that deceptively simple concept are |
| from network infrastructure experts. But focusing | | | | dozens, hundreds, perhaps even thousands of |
| on appliances and software solutions can lead to | | | | business processes, most, if not all of which are |
| the development of incomplete or inadequate | | | | dependent upon your IT infrastructure for |
| solutions and this can be an expensive and | | | | successful execution. |
| humbling mistake! IT Business Continuity and | | | | So the place to begin defining your disaster |
| Disaster Recovery (BCDR) is not about | | | | recovery plan is not in the server room but |
| appliances, power supplies, routers, switches and | | | | rather out among the business units. |
| servers, it's about supporting business processes. | | | | For example, maybe you work for a financial |
| Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery | | | | institution that has to comply with |
| (BCDR) are two separate and related concepts | | | | Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA or PATRIOT Act |
| that are often lumped together when developing | | | | regulations. Information availability is required under |
| recovery plans. Let's start with some quick | | | | all conditions, including routine back-up. Fines for |
| definitions. | | | | non-compliance and damage to reputation for |
| IT Business Continuity | | | | failure to comply are huge. |
| Business Continuity refers to an organization's | | | | Or |
| ability to keep vital business operations running at | | | | Your organization manufactures precision |
| or near normal capacities in the event of | | | | electronic components and your ERP and |
| infrastructure failure. These failures can be caused | | | | inventory management systems must be |
| by human errors, power failures, application errors | | | | operational during the week. Downtime costs you |
| and a host of others that impact the ability of the | | | | $3500/hour. However, routine maintenance can be |
| infrastructure to properly support the organization. | | | | performed during the week. |
| When speaking of Business Continuity the | | | | Or |
| majority of the infrastructure remains in place and | | | | Your company processes a high volume of data |
| functional which is in contrast to Disaster | | | | entry, fulfillment processing and shipping |
| Recovery. | | | | operations around the clock. Downtime has been |
| IT Disaster Recovery | | | | calculated to be $12,700 per hour. |
| Disaster Recovery refers to incidents that | | | | 3 different scenarios with 3 entirely different sets |
| significantly impact or make unavailable critical | | | | of requirements. |
| infrastructure. The most common examples are | | | | Hopefully you see that before you can develop or |
| natural disasters and other "acts of God." Planning | | | | use a recovery plan template for your |
| for data protection and recovery are fundamental | | | | organization you must identify, understand, and |
| to disaster recovery principles. | | | | prioritize the requirements of each of the most |
| So the idea of BCDR really is to ensure that your | | | | critical processes. |
| company or organization continues to function at | | | | |