5 Elements of A Disaster Recovery Plan – Is Your Business Prepared?
Introduction
Every organization should come up with a disaster recovery plan to mitigate the potential damages that could be incurred in case of any disasters. Some of the most common disasters include fires, flooding, hurricanes, cyber-attacks, earthquakes among others. The list of tragedies that could be experienced by a company is usually dependent on factors such as natural elements, geographical location, system architecture, information flow in the organization, and other factors that are usually unique to each firm. Such tragedies may result in data loss, system failures, damage, and destruction of property. Ultimately this will result in huge losses, and therefore arises the need to well prepare for such circumstances. Disaster recovery is a process that requires expert analysis of some of the factors mentioned above to determine which risks pose a greater threat and outline the possible mitigation measures. Therefore, you should consult disaster recovery service providers in Texas, or your state of residence, to make informed decisions, on your path to better disaster preparedness.
How well is your business prepared?
To better understand the capacity of your organization to handle disasters we will create a checklist of 5 elements, that need to be addressed to consider your business well prepared for disasters that you are most likely to experience.
5 Elements of a disaster recovery plan
A good disaster recovery plan needs to be holistic in addressing key functional components of a business that can be considered as the lifeline, without which your business collapses.
1. Identify and analyze all potential risk
This is the first step in disaster recovery planning. As we highlighted in the beginning, the list of dangers a company may be exposed to is unique, and therefore need to be addressed on a case by case basis. For example, according to texasalamanc.com, an average of 132 tornadoes occur in Texas per year. This is higher than other states such as Alaska and therefore, it can be considered a potential threat for firms in Texas as compared to Alaska, of course after consulting a disaster recovery company in Texas, if your business is based there. The key factor to consider is that not all risks are the same and assessment needs to be done to determine potential damage per individual risk, and therefore the degree of importance the disaster should be given, when crafting a recovery plan.
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2. Remote work alternatives / offsite locations
Offsite locations and remote work alternatives are great ways to ensure the continuity of your organization, in case of an earthquake or as the case is right now, a pandemic. Remote work has now become the norm due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for as a result of social distancing measures, many employees in various organizations, have been forced to work from home. The remote work strategy has helped save many organizations from dissolution, due to the pandemic. However, it is good to develop a strategy to ensure that employees remain productive regardless of the location from which they work, hence the essence of disaster recovery planning. Offsite locations, may extend beyond offices, but also infrastructure. If your company runs its own servers, it is best to ensure they are backed up remotely, or in the cloud, to facilitate quick recovery and mitigate data loss.
3. Employee education
A Recovery Plan is incomplete, without educating your employees on ways through which they can both prevent disasters, such as security breaches, and also cope-up with other forms of disasters that may arise. Education may involve assigning roles and responsibilities, to prevent a state of confusion in the event of a crisis. Some disasters such as the destruction of property can also be prevented if the employees are well educated on the proper use and maintenance of company equipment.
4. Insurance Policy
Disaster recovery planning is one of the best strategies that could help your organization determine the right insurance policies to select, from amongst the sea of policies offered by insurance companies, some of which may be irrelevant due to a low-risk factor. Taking a policy against fire or any other disaster could be one of the best ways to ensure the continuity of your business in case of property loss, and damage.
5. Continuity Strategy
Developing a continuity strategy is one of the most crucial aspects of DRP. Your business needs not halt when disaster strikes, but navigate through hard times, even if fewer resources are available. A continuity strategy is the result of DRP and will guarantee the life of your business regardless of the dangers it may be exposed to. With this element, you will not only learn how to survive but also how to remain profitable despite facing challenges.
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Conclusion
A disaster recovery plan is great to have, but it needs to be constantly updated, for with changing times, new dangers arise which your business needs to be well prepared for. After considering the above elements, you probably have an idea on how to approach disaster recovery, but it would be best to find a disaster recovery company in Texas, or your state of residence to be better informed on the steps to take for better preparedness.
