disaster recovery plan example

Each and every company must develop a plan that is suitable for them. a cloud-based disaster recovery solution. If you need light structure or something to fall back on when creating your own plan, this one would be helpful. If your production data lives on-premise in one of your data centers, this would mean keeping backups of the data at another data center site or in the cloud. If a problem was to occur, the lead should be contacted by pager. Then, Ill explain what each section typically contains. Damage limitation measures can be put into place quickly, and everyone knows who they can contact in an emergency situation.

This can take years to accomplish, and the plan must be tested and maintained. Even though these disasters dont specifically target IT infrastructures, they can still damage some companies IT infrastructure.

This section should contain a list of all relevant insurance policies. The critical step in preparing for this type of disaster is to ensure that you have backup copies of your data that go back far enough in time to allow you to recover using a version of the data that you know to be safe. The contingency plan can range from a gym in a far off location or a fully functional mirrored image of your organization. Hardware failures account for around 46% of idle company time, a sobering statistic that highlights the dangers of losing access to your information systems. If your IT infrastructure stays down for a long time, itll be difficult to resume operations. Some even aim to cause outages or completely destroy the targeted systems. In this section, include provisions for your backup strategy. This team would survey the situation and make a decision on the most suitable plan. Partner with Evolve IP and gain the combined experience of hundreds of technologists, all acting as an extension of your IT team. The file backup entails all data files that are required to effectively recover all critical systems that are backed up on a regular basis. A visual for your step-by-step disaster recovery process can get recruits up to speed at a glance without bogging them down in the details. For example, they should clarify the next steps, command center contact information, disaster recovery site contact information, and so on. Even if your readers already know what your document is about, some of them might not be aware of its importance. Read our white paper The One Essential Guide to Disaster Recovery to learn how you can ensure business continuity and survival through three essential steps. Even if youve placed this information in the Contact Information section, include it again here for easy access. Your complete disaster recovery plan template. The disaster response team hierarchy will define who is in charge of leading the response and the teams that will work under the leader to execute the necessary actions. Your email address will not be published. should also be included here. Youd also have another for server recovery, another for data recovery, and so on. While it applies to the college specifically, the plan is so extensive that anyone looking to create their own recovery plan could glean from it as an example. For example, youd have a recovery team for networks, another team for desktops, another for servers, and so on.

Youll never know how effective your plan is until youve tested it. If you make a backup daily, and keep seven backups on hand, then you know that you can restore data from as long as a week ago if newer backups contain damaged information. But that would be costly, because it would mean keeping backup servers running at full capacity all the time. I know, youre shocked at the realization. These teams can, in effect, determine the extent of the damage sustained by mission-critical applications, equipment, offices, and facilities. Instead of what is a disaster recovery plan? perhaps the better question to ask is, why does every business need a disaster recovery plan? It also helps them see the importance of your DRP as a whole. Below is an overview of the proposed disaster recovery plan template. When I can say, we can get everything new, be completely redundant, it can meet all of our needs and oh, by the way, we are going to save over $300,000 a year. It makes it easy for me to sell!". They can do this through traditional media (e.g., TV, radio, newspapers) or modern channels (e.g., official website, social media). This is only a location that contains essential needs such as electricity and shelter. Without a clear roadmap of how the team will deal with emergencies, getting systems back online can take a long time at great expense to the company. The editors at Solutions Review have compiled this list of the best free disaster recovery plan templates available online. Feel free to add or remove sections according to your specific requirements.

In this section, specify the where, how, and who about your command center. Armed with this guide, all your actions are going to be methodical. But if you have a disaster recovery plan DR Plan in place, your business can find it easier to bounce back.

Blog / Otherwise, you could end up overlooking important details and making costly mistakes. In this section, specify why and how risk management (including risk assessments and risk mitigation) must be carried out. However, their IT disaster recovery plan offers a comprehensive step-by-step guide to prepare for the worst. 40% of small businesses never reopen following a disaster, so failure to anticipate such threats could prove catastrophic. They have ensured that IBM will restore the business critical SAP applications from the last successful back up and provide global access to the application within the agreed 48 hours service level. Obviously, you would not want to spend 10 million dollars to protect 5 million in losses. Disaster recovery is one of those things that is easy to explain in the abstract, and harder to understand at the real-world, implementational level. The damages from the disaster may also affect your customers severely.. For example, if youre part of a supply chain, any extended downtime at your end can cause financial losses to other companies. He or she might even insert malicious code into your data in an effort to spread malware to your systems. Unlike a business continuity plan (BCP), the disaster recovery plan emphasizes information systems rather than HR and assets. The plan is written at a level of detail that will accommodate a staff familiar with information systems. Risk management is a discipline that includes risk assessment and risk mitigation. Spoiler alert: Human beings are flawed. Disaster can strike at any moment, disrupting workflows and wiping out entire information systems your company relies on. As a result, your business can no longer connect to databases that it accesses via the network which, in todays age of cloud-native everything, means most databases. In this scenario, disaster recovery means being able to restore data availability even as the DDoS attack is underway. Backups play a crucial role in disaster recovery. Your DR team can refer to these sections for guidance. Think what would happen to you in an earthquake, tsunami, flood, wildfire, or hurricane? The DDoS attack focuses on overwhelming your network with illegitimate requests so that legitimate data cannot get through. Yet, it isnt just unexpected disasters that you have to watch out for. A broad overview of your companys stance on disaster recovery can be crucial. To quickly mobilize your DR team, you need to maintain a contact list with all team members. You can use a template like this to outline evacuation procedures, emergency response guidelines, and other relevant information for employees. But its important to be honest about it. Here, you specify whos in charge of contacting the fire department, police department, hospital, and other emergency services. Even if a threat exists, the level of risk it poses may vary depending on various conditions. We had a hardware failure that caused the loss of 7 terabytes of data. Currently, there are no colleges or businesses located in New Orleans that are able to function outside of the city. This provides an outline of what should occur in IT should a disaster strike. Your information is secure and will not be shared. Based on this information, youll develop a comprehensive plan of what to do if (when) disaster strikes. HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, regulates medical information sending and handling. Issues such as electrical surges and even ill-fated squirrels can cause permanent data center damage. If an organizations operations are less critical, they should choose a warm site. Well focus especially on situations involving the restoration of data availability, but the lessons below apply generally to any type of disaster recovery scenario. Unless you have data backups, youd have nothing to work with if your main site is out of commission. Whether its natural (fires and floods) or man-made (hacking or human error), disasters are never fun to deal with. Creating a disaster recovery plan from scratch is a daunting task. Man-made disasters are highly destructive, business-impacting events caused by intentional or unintentional human actions. Explain the existence of various threats and how they may impact your business. It calculates the level of risk it poses on a given subject. If you find a plan from this list, consult our Disaster Recovery as a Service Buyers Guide, Backup and Disaster Recovery Buyers Guide, or our Data Protection Vendor Map for more information on disaster recovery planning. Again, this is by no means a comprehensive DRP outline. Discover the top Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) Options for 2022. This section defines the policies and procedures for conducting financial assessments. Additionally, the site offers emergency management, incident management, and threat plans, as well as a look at a cloud-based disaster recovery solution. In this disaster recovery scenario, imagine that a group of malicious hackers executes a Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack against your company. Youll also want to specify your command centers contact information (phone numbers, email address, URL, etc.). %%EOF

If you want to save money while saving face, its important to develop a solid IT disaster recovery plan. In this case, you can perform disaster recovery faster, more efficiently, and with fewer missteps.

Risk management allows you to identify what threats are most likely to hit you. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have been scrambling to migrate data to the cloud and counteract the crippling effects it has had on everything from supply chain issues and employee turnover to the remote work conundrum. GLCC has performed a business impact analysis to identify the critical assets that will be affected and to what degree. Recovery teams are the technical teams that recover specific areas of your IT infrastructure. For example, you can include a stipulation that your DR team will meet annually to reassess your DRP. *NEW* Backup & Recovery Software Buyers Guide: GET IT HERE. The system was restored after four days because we were unable to locate a hard disk of that size. Thats a fact we all have to accept. The employee might insert inaccurate or bogus data into your databases, for example, in order to lower data quality and make the data unusable for your business. I understand that by submitting this form my personal information is subject to the, Your Guide to HIPAA Compliant Fax Services, Data Leak: What It Is and How You Can Prevent One. Being prepared with a disaster recovery plan is one of the best ways to maintain business continuity and protect your data, so why not get a jump start on it for free? If a department head is unavailable or if certain employees dont belong to a particular department, designated personnel can do this task instead. A command center will ensure you can still coordinate all members of your company. They must choose to what extent their information will be backed up, where it will be stored, how many times the media can be used, and who will transport the media. Use the template to identify and assess threats, categorize them according to severity level, and create action lists to speed up your response time. OUR TAKE: Like Adams State College, Southern Oregon University has a public disaster recovery plan. It is designed to minimize the monetary and operational impacts of a disaster byensuring the continued availability of critical business systems and by safeguarding the information assets of GLCC.