IT Consulting from the Trenches

PREPARING FOR DISASTER RECOVERY—CLEAR QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE ANSWERED

The recent photo above shows a building on fire in Karachi, Pakistan. Think it’s unlikely to happen to you? Well this was the second time in six months that this building caught on fire.

In a recent project involving disaster recovery, the owner insisted that we clarify the issues confronting his business very clearly. It forced us to look for the best (i.e., clearest) questions. Here they are. The questions were distilled from information that was found at Sungard, Iron Mountain, Forsythe.

November 3 update: I added three more important aspects to consider in your disaster recovery and business continuity planning. Click here.

We came up with five questions.

1. How will disaster impact your key assets? Your key assets are your people, your property, your computing systems, and your data.
2. What are the most likely disasters to strike your business? Prepare a response for each one. You might need different plans for a building fire and an earthquake.
3. Which systems must be restored in sequence? This requires you to prioritize your systems.
4. Identify the possible points of failure in your current systems. Can you plug those possible points of failure in your most critical systems?
5. How much will you budget for disaster recovery? To accurately budget for disaster recovery, quantify your possible losses from the interruption of your most critical systems.

YOUR KEY ASSETS
Let’s return to the four key assets. Questions are posed for each asset. Your answers will get you started.

1. People - How will your employees be notified and evacuated? How will they be able to work after the disaster? If your building burns down today, how will your people be able to work tomorrow to restore your business?
2. Property - What equipment will you need for your people during and after the disaster?
3. Systems - How much downtime can you tolerate? To be prudent, which systems must be duplicated before disaster strikes? If that wasn't done, which systems must be brought back online urgently?
4. Data - Identify your most critical data. How will you protect it before disaster strikes? How will you recover any lost data?

ABOUT OUR SOURCES
This information came from their respective websites:

• SunGard’s robust infrastructure, pressure-tested processes, and expertise keep client people and information connected. Sunguard helps 10,000 customers worldwide achieve uninterrupted access to their mission-critical data and systems
• Iron Mountain helps organizations around the world reduce the costs and risks associated with information protection and storage. Iron Mountain is a trusted partner to more than 120,000 corporate clients throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and the Pacific Rim.
• From the boardroom to the data center, Forsythe helps organizations solve business problems through technology. Forsythe can help you align & operate IT, manage risk, protect & manage data, optimize the data center, enhance IT infrastructure, and source & manage technology.