Over the past few years, cyber attacks have been on the rise. In fact, research shows that for every one hour of operational downtime; small and medium sized businesses incur an incremental financial loss of over $8,000 while large organizations incur over $74,000.
To resolve this issue, businesses across the globe have gotten serious in implementing an effective and actionable Disaster Recovery (DR) plan. A DR plan provides a template for protection against the worst consequences of critical disaster scenarios.
Although, all disaster plans are created uniquely. Here are 5 of the most important components that should be included in your disaster plan to ensure that your organization can operate effectively in the event of a disaster.
Define your tolerance for data loss and downtime: Defining your tolerance for data loss and downtime can help determine the type of solution needed for recovery. According to David Grimes, CTO at NaviSite, one should evaluate what an acceptable recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) is for each set of applications. “By properly identifying these two metrics businesses can prioritize what is needed to successfully survive a disaster, ensure a cost-effective level of disaster recovery and lower the potential risk of miscalculating what they’re able to recover during a disaster.”
Define key roles, responsibilities and parties involved in the DR Process: It’s important to identify key roles, responsibilities, and parties so employees know which tasks need to be completed in the event of a disaster. This ensures that the DR process operates as efficiently as possible.
Map out a communication plan: This is often overlooked in the disaster recovery plan. It is vital to map out a communication process to your employees when a disaster strikes. Robert Gibbons, CTO at Datto, states that “a disaster recovery plan should include a statement that can be published on your company’s website and social media platforms in the event of an emergency, it should also give your customers timely status updates on what they can expect from your business and when to make them feel much better.”
Provide a backup worksite for your employees: It is vital to create a backup worksite for your employees in case of an emergency. Inform your staff about this site and inform them how to access it.
Include disaster and emergencies in your legal service agreement: If your organization leverages a Managed Service Provider or Data Center, it is vital that you have a binding agreement that defines what happens to your data in case of disaster, and also ensure that your providers work towards resolving the in a timely fashion.
Apart from above, it is very important for every business owner to test their plans regularly and ensure the disaster recovery (DR) process works out as planned.