Is Your Cloud Enterprise Disaster Recovery Ready ?

The magnitude of risk posed by any specific threat differs across firms, depending on the business model, geography, and other factors. As businesses rely heavily on technologies and digitized data for day-to-day operations, the quantity of data and information technology architecture sacrificed to catastrophes appears to be rising. Every year, businesses are predicted to lose money and experience losses because of disasters, lack of preparedness, and decreased productivity. Disaster prevention strategies should be implemented. 

Developing and implementing a disaster recovery plan (DRP) is one approach your firm can prepare for and safeguard itself from emergencies. Businesses should have a disaster recovery strategy that can meet all types of emergencies. The strategy should be simple to implement and comprehend, and it needs to be tailored to the organization's specific requirements. 

The following are essential elements of a disaster recovery plan: 

1. Build a Disaster Recovery Team. 

The DRP will be developed, implemented, and maintained by the team. A DRP should identify team members, specify each member's roles, and offer contact details for everyone. In the scenario of a disaster or emergency, the DRP should openly specify who should be informed. All personnel must be aware of and understand the DRP and their responsibilities in a disaster. 

2. Determine & Evaluate Disaster Vulnerabilities. 

The disaster response team must discover and analyze your firm's vulnerabilities. This stage should incorporate natural catastrophes, man-made calamities, and technological problems. This will help the management define the recovery plans and resources needed to restore from disasters within a feasible timeline. 

3. Identify the Most Important Applications, Documents, and Resources 

The firm should review its operational procedures to decide which are important to the business’s operations. The strategy must prioritize short-term safety measures including cash flow and revenue generation over long-term solutions such as restoring the firm's full operational capabilities. However, the firm must acknowledge that some operations must not be delayed if possible. 

4. Outline Procedures for Backup and Off-Site Storage 

These methods should specify what should be backed up, by whom, how the backup should be performed, the location of the backup, and how frequently backups should run. Back up essential applications, hardware, and documents. The most recent financial accounts, tax returns, a comprehensive list of personnel and relevant contact information, inventory data, and client and vendor inventory records you should consider backing up. Key materials for everyday operations, such as cheques and purchase orders, and a copy of the DRP, should be maintained in a safe location off-site. 

5. Rigorous DRP Testing and Maintenance 

Disaster recovery planning is an ongoing activity as disaster and emergency threats are always evolving. It is advised that the firm test the DRP regularly to ensure that the processes underlined throughout the plan remain effective and suitable. The recovery team must continuously update the DRP to adjust alterations in business operations, technologies, and emerging disaster threats. 

Final Steps 

Strategies for disaster recovery are dynamic in nature. They will never give valuable data unless they are tested, updated, and maintained. Prioritize testing to create a strategy that will be useful in a natural disaster or cyber-attack. Contact us to discuss your disaster recovery strategy if you would want a unique perspective on your initiatives. We are delighted to assist. 

Disaster recovery strategies are not something you want to create on the spur of the moment, or worse when it is too late. Rather, you must discover the answers your company requires without exceeding the budget. 

Your Managed service provider should be capable of advancing with your business's data management demands. Get ahead of your competitors with a management solution that keeps you on top of trends using high-quality, ethical data management and a complete disaster recovery approach. The DRP should be tested and maintained regularly to continuously equip the business against emerging disasters and cyber-attacks.