A BCP covers risks including cyber attacks, pandemics, natural disasters and human error. The array of possible risks makes it vital for an organization to have a business continuity plan to preserve its health and reputation. A proper BCP decreases the chance of a costly power outage or IT outage.
Business continuity planning is a proactive business process that lets a company understand potential threats, vulnerabilities and weaknesses to its organization in times of crisis. The creation of a business continuity program ensures company leaders can react quickly and efficiently to business interruption.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning for IT Professionals free download 1
There is help available to guide organizations through the business continuity planning process, from consultants to tools to full software. Which approach an organization should take depends on the complexity of the business continuity planning task, the amount of time and personnel available, and the budget. Before making a purchase, it is advisable to research both products and vendors, evaluate demos, and talk to other users.
For more complicated functions, business continuity planning software uses databases and modules for specific exercises. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, through its Ready.gov website, offers software in its Business Continuity Planning Suite. Other business continuity software vendors include Castellan, formed from the merger of Assurance, Avalution and ClearView in 2020; CLDigital, formerly Continuity Logic; Fusion Risk Management; Quantivate; and Sungard Availability Services.
The role of the business continuity professional has changed and continues to evolve. As IT administrators are increasingly asked to do more with less, it is advisable for business continuity professionals to be well versed in technology, security, risk management, emergency management and strategic planning.
An emergency management plan is a document that helps to lessen the damage of a hazardous event. Proper business continuity planning includes emergency management as an important component. The appointed emergency management team takes the lead during a business disruption.
Disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity planning are often linked, but they are different. A DR plan is reactive, as it details how an organization recovers after a business disruption. A business continuity plan is a proactive approach that describes how an organization can maintain business operations during an emergency.
A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a documented, structured approach that describes how an organization can quickly resume work after an unplanned incident. A DRP is an essential part of a business continuity plan (BCP). It is applied to the aspects of an organization that depend on a functioning information technology (IT) infrastructure. A DRP aims to help an organization resolve data loss and recover system functionality so that it can perform in the aftermath of an incident, even if it operates at a minimal level.
The plan consists of steps to minimize the effects of a disaster so the organization can continue to operate or quickly resume mission-critical functions. Typically, a DRP involves an analysis of business processes and continuity needs. Before generating a detailed plan, an organization often performs a business impact analysis (BIA) and risk analysis (RA), and it establishes recovery objectives.
When disaster strikes, the recovery strategy should start at the business level to determine which applications are most important to running the organization. The recovery time objective (RTO) describes the amount of time critical applications can be down, typically measured in hours, minutes or seconds. The recovery point objective (RPO) describes the age of files that must be recovered from data backup storage for normal operations to resume.
The main objective of a DRP is to minimize negative effects of an incident on business operations. A disaster recovery plan can range in scope from basic to comprehensive. Some DRPs can be as much as 100 pages long.
The disaster recovery plan process involves more than simply writing the document. Before writing the DRP, a risk analysis and business impact analysis can help determine where to focus resources in the disaster recovery process.
Technically, the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) deals with the restoration of computer systems with all attendant software and connections to full functionality under a variety of damaging or interfering external conditions. In daily practice Business Continuity often refers to disaster recovery from a business point-of-view, or dealing with simple daily issues, such as a failed disk, failed server or database, possibly a bad communications line. It is often referred to as the measure of lost time in an application, possibly a mission critical application.
The primary objective of Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is to enable an organization to survive a disaster and to continue normal business operations. In order to survive, the organization must assure that critical operations can resume/continue normal processing. Throughout the recovery effort, the plan establishes clear lines of authority and prioritizes work efforts.
Although statistically the probability of a major disaster is remote, the consequences of an occurrence could be catastrophic, both in terms of operational impact and public image. Management appreciates the implications of an occurrence; therefore, it should assign on-going responsibility for recovery planning to an employee dedicated to this essential service.
A DRI International certification is the most widely recognized and respected business continuity certification in the world. DRI only certifies professionals that have demonstrated both knowledge and experience in the business continuity and/or disaster recovery profession.
If you are new to recovery planning, make sure that you research the subject thoroughly before embarking on a disaster recovery project plan. Consider engaging a consultant (internal or external to your organization) to help you in your project planning effort. Disaster recovery planning is not a two-month project, neither is it a project that once completed, you can forget about. An effective recovery plan is a live recovery plan. The plan must be maintained current and tested/exercised regularly.
The primary objective of recovery planning is to enable an organization to survive a disaster and to continue normal business operations. In order to survive, the organization must assure that critical operations can resume/continue normal processing. Throughout the recovery effort, the plan establishes clear lines of authority and prioritizes work efforts. The key objectives of the contingency plan should be to:
Although statistically the probability of a major disaster is remote, the consequences of an occurrence could be catastrophic, both in terms of operational impact and public image. Management appreciates the implications of an occurrence, therefore, it should assign on-going responsibility for recovery planning to an employee dedicated to this essential service.
The project team organization is designed to maximize the flexibility needed to deal with the implementation of a plan in the most efficient manner possible. As explained earlier in this document, disaster recovery and business resumption planning is a complex and labour intensive program. A key factor in the successful development and implementation of recovery and resumption programs in other organizations is the dedication of a full-time resource to recovery/business continuity planning.
The composition of the Project Team may vary depending on the environments and business units for which plans are developed. It is important to note that the managers of environments and business units for which plans are developed will be responsible for the maintenance and testing of their respective plans. However, the Person/unit responsible for recovery/continuity planning should retain the role of co-ordinator of testing activities, major plan revisions and maintainer of the Master Plan.
Organization who have tried to develop disaster and business resumption plans without dedicating the required resources to the effort have been largely unsuccessful in implementing effective recovery plans. Some organizations, after spending time and money developing recovery plans, have failed in maintaining their recovery capability. This is mostly due to a lack of commitment to keep their plans current or to do regular testing of recovery capabilities.
OUR TAKE: DisasterRecovery.org offers a free disaster recovery plan template, as well as a business continuity plan template. Additionally, the site offers emergency management, incident management, and threat plans, as well as a look at a cloud-based disaster recovery solution. This makes it a perfect place for organizations in their nascent stages to start to prepare for a disaster.
This software was created for any business with the need to create, improve, or update its business continuity plan. The Suite is scalable for optimal use by organizations of any size and consists of a business continuity plan (BCP) training, automated BCP and disaster recovery plan (DRP) generators, and a self-directed exercise for testing an implemented BCP. Businesses can utilize this solution to maintain normal operations and provide resilience during a disruption.
An overview of the concepts detailed within this training. Also, included is a humorous, short video that introduces viewers to the concept of business continuity planning and highlights the benefits of having a plan. Two men in an elevator experience a spectrum of disasters from a loss of power, to rain, fire, and a human threat. One man is prepared for each disaster and the other is not. 2ff7e9595c
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