Integrate Your Disaster Recovery Plan in the Management Process

The best disaster recovery plan is one that deals with the events or risks most likely to hit your company. The biggest problem today is that most people agree with the idea of having a disaster recovery plan but very create and maintain it. The rule is: Integrate your disaster recovery plan in the management process.

These three steps can help keep you from disasters path.

1. Verify or create your company Disaster Recovery plan
2. Integrate Disaster Recovery into your business process management
3. Actively test your Disaster Recovery plan

Verify or create your company Disaster Recovery plan

If your Disaster Recovery plan was put together by anyone other than you, verify it. If it was put together by you, have someone else verify it. Put a dollar value next to failure and make sure that management is aware of this number.

Many (most) companies treat Disaster Recovery as an afterthought, if it is thought of at all. If your company falls into this category, you need to stop now. Disaster Recovery must be an integrated process and never an afterthought.

If your company refuses to leave this mindset use the phrase Business Continuity instead of Disaster Recovery. Continuity has a better ring to it than Recovery and the word Disaster is just horrid.

Integrate Disaster Recovery into your business process management

Integrate your plan with a monetary value listed next to failure. You should be able to get some management support and integrate Disaster Recovery into your standard business management processes. It is easy to cut Disaster Recovery practices and budget. There are basically two times when this happens:

1. You are keeping up with rapid growth during the good times
2. You are cutting expenses in slow times.

If you have a separate budget line item for Disaster Recovery then people will always be aware of ongoing DR efforts. But, that line item can easily be cut during budget review or during midyear budget review. The Disaster Recovery budget should be included in the core project costs and not as a totally separate item.

During growth, the budget can easily be reallocated to a cash generating project that needs immediate and unexpected funding. During slow times, the line item is easy to cut because it is an expense. As an expense it is never given the same level of importance as insurance, but no company would cut their fire insurance is slow times.

Actively test your Disaster Recovery plan and as thoroughly as possible.
System and process testing should take place weekly until everyone can carry out their actions automatically. Monthly until it is just on-of-those-things and twice yearly when the process has been perfected.

06 Jan 2009 11:30:13

Iowa lawmakers to focus on recovery from floods - The Associated Press

The Associated Press Iowa lawmakers to focus on recovery from floods The Associated Press - How bad are the flood recovery numbers? Officials estimate the state's total damage from summer 2008 flooding and tornadoes at $8 billion to $10 billion. ... Lawmaker Rob Hogg says flood recovery won't be perfect Legislators want flood work to take center stage Iowa Lawmakers Hear Concerns From Flood Victims

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