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The Process Of Disaster Recovery Planning In Business Organizations

By Judy Sullivan


It is normal for business or activities of an organization to be interrupted by events which is some cases may be unforeseen. In anticipation of this, most of organizations usually put in place measures to minimize losses in case such event occurs. Coming up with measures that outline steps to be followed in an event of a disaster are called disaster recovery planning (DRP).

It is basically a plan that ensures business continuity is case an organization suffers from an event where all or parts of its resources are destroyed. In the modern organizations, it also covers data records and IT equipment in addition to all other organization resources. Other than minimizing the negative effects of unfavorable event, it also ensures that an organization maintains or quickly resumes its normal operations.

Other benefits of the outcome of this process include the general sense of security, minimal delay risks, the reliability of standby systems is guaranteed, reduced decision making during disasters and provision of a standard of testing. In addition to this, firms with comprehensive and functional disaster recovery plans (DRP) enjoy discounts on insurance premiums.

The process of disaster recovery planning starts from the top level management. Both the board of directors and the chief executive officers must approve and be committed to the plan. A planning committee is then established with representatives drawn from all functional areas in the organization. The key figures in this committee are the data processing manager and the operations manager.

After defining the scope, the first task of the committee is to perform the risk assessment. This involves the preparation of a business impact analysis and risk analysis reports which exposes all possible threats from natural, technical and even human sources. In order to achieve this, all functional areas are critically analyzed so as to determine the impacts associated with different scenarios of calamities.

After establishing the impacts and consequences that can result from the worst case scenario, the areas to be prioritized are then determined. All the operations and processes are analyzed to determine for how long they can run with critical system. The recovery strategies are them determined and evaluated for their effectiveness. This covers all aspects of the organization, with written specific alternatives and backup systems.

Other than returning a firm to its normal level of operation in the shortest duration possible after occurrence a calamity, whether man made or natural, disaster recovery plans comes with several other benefits such as a sense of security, minimal delay risks, availing standards for testing plans, minimizing decision making needs in a chaotic situation among others.

In order to succeed in the disaster recovery planning, the process must start and get support from the top executive level. The proposal must get approval from the board and other chief officers. All levels of employees must also be taken into account and get involved in the planning process. With a well planned, executed and continuously revised, organization has better chances of surviving into the foreseeable future.




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