Disaster Recovery Plan for Cisco Systems, Inc - Case Study Example

? Disaster Recovery Plan Overview of the Organization Cisco Systems, Inc. is regarded as an American based multinational business organization which principally deals with designing, producing as well as selling different sorts of networking associated instruments (The New York Times, 2013). The prime business goal as well as objective of Cisco is to generate greater value towards its worldwide customers, personnel, financial investors and most significantly ecosystem partners. It has been viewed that the organization is quite concerned about producing as well as delivering quality networking products as well as services throughout the globe with the intention of accomplishing superior competitive position. In this regard, Cisco involves in introducing along with executing pioneering technologies as well as programs to deliver quality products to its huge figure of customer base and also to build a strong community worldwide (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2013). Thesis Statement The paper intends to review the present network architecture of Cisco Systems, Inc and propose network architecture of an alternate computing facility in relation to the occurrence of a disaster. Subsequently, a disaster recovery plan policy will be developed which will take into consideration aspects such as disaster declaration, assessment of security and disaster recovery procedures among others. In terms of market size, the business of Cisco is divided into various segments that include the United States, Canada, Asia Pacific region, European market and Japan as along with other emerging business markets. With regard to determine the layout as well as the organizational structure of Cisco, it has been apparently observed that the organization employs nearly 72,400 employees worldwide. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization named John Chambers has designed a top-down organizational structure segregating into four main parts i.e. operating committee, 12 councils, 47 boards as well as working groups (Network World, 2013). This can be better understood with the help of the following graphical representation. Source: (Network World, 2013) Network Architecture of CISCO In order to assess the network architecture of Cisco, it can be apparently observed that the organization is facing certain difficulties relating to its network architecture owing to the reasons of complex business environment and gaining momentum of extreme business market competition. The present network architecture of Cisco can be recognised raising greater value especially in the service sector providing emergency services at the time of happening any sort of disaster like earthquake and fire among others. Cisco introduced as well as developed a Network Management Reference Architecture (NMRA) to assist the customers in understanding as well as addressing the operational needs concerning on people, process and technology. At present, the strategy of the organization relating to the aforesaid network architecture is developing an innovative technological vision which is aligned with the business requirements to comply with the clientele requirements by a greater level. The aforesaid network architecture which follows by Cisco can be better explained with the help of the following pictorial illustration. Source: (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2013) Proposed Network Architecture of an Alternate Computing Facility in the Event of a Disaster For developing an alternate computing facility, CISCO needs to remain much focus upon strengthening its existing organizational framework. In addition, the organizational network structure of the organization is also required to be standardized in order to assist the customers for understanding the technologies as well as the offering facilities at the moment of the occurrence of any disaster. It is worth mentioning that at this present era of modernized world, the global business lifecycle vastly depends upon information and communication technology (ICT) by a greater level. The initial objectives of the IT network disaster planning towards providing alternate solutions to minimize the disastrous risks include the following aspects. Minimizing commotion of the business procedures in terms of security, so that the customers can use alternate technology concerning any emergency moment, Pledging consistent backup systems through the adoption along with the incorporation of effective information system as well as database, Ensuring a height of protection in regards of setting up catastrophe monitor system in disaster prone system, Minimizing risk of obstruction through the support of disaster retrieval team as well as designing risk management model, Aiding in reinstatement of procedures through creating as well as testing the disastrous recovery plan and Strengthening the interaction mechanisms between organization as well as government (Disaster Recovery, n.d.). The following diagrammatical representation depicts proposed or alternative network architecture for Cisco relating to disaster management. Source: (Liu, Jang, Leu, Wang & Wang, 2010) Developing the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) Policy In the context of minimizing any sort of disastrous risk, the organization i.e. Cisco can follow the below mentioned steps. Creating as well as testing the disastrous recovery plan, Forming a disaster retrieval group, Prioritizing processes as well as operations concerning categorizing the essential services relating to any disaster and Performing the task of risk evaluation in terms of business analysis (Disaster Recovery, n.d.). Disaster Declaration The organisations within the context of ICT sector must consider both technical as well as administrative functionalities for the purpose of providing active support to their clients at the time of any emergency. At the present era, the output of the business strongly depends upon the smooth execution of ICTs. Therefore, Cisco must develop effective disaster recovery plan for preserving effective flow of business. For this reason, the organization can follow the below mentioned model relating to disaster management which mainly constitutes four significant aspects i.e. reduction, readiness, response and recovery (Intech Open Science, 2013). Source: (Intech Open Science, 2013) Assessment of Security In the context of IT, the term assessment of security defines minimizing different sorts of risks through effectively categorizing the essential services, database and vital resources among others. In this similar context, for the purpose of providing security as per prioritized database as well as operations to the clientele, the service providers should build effective disaster recovery based plan as well as trained team (Disaster Recovery, n.d.). Potential Disaster Scenarios and Methods of Dealing with the Disaster Potential technological disaster can interrupt an ecosystem for an extensive period as well as can also disturb the psychological well being of the communities. There have been enormous numbers of IT disasters witnessed in this technological world. In this similar context, certain examples like. Airbus A380 suffers from unsuited software issues in the year 2006 and hacking of Microsoft consumer database in the year 2013 can be cited. It is to be affirmed from a broader perspective that technological disaster can harm both the community as well as the organizations by a greater level. Therefore, in order to deal with these disastrous moments effectively as well as efficiently, certain valuable methods can be followed and executed. These methods might comprise forming a disastrous recovery based plan, offering effectual training to the disaster retrieval groups, categorizing the essential services and most vitally generating backups among others (The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. 2013). Disaster Recovery Procedures At this present era of modernized world, it can be viewed that technological disasters not only harms the productivity of different organizations, but they also disrupts their financial positions by a considerable level. Therefore, in this regard, the central along with state government, various non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), technological service providers and different security authorities must form effective procedures relating to disaster recovery. The procedures concerning disaster recovery can be assessing the damages, evacuation, providing sheltering and reconstruction among others (The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. 2013). Development of an Incident Response Team (IRT) Charter Incident Response Team (IRT) is fundamentally described as a cluster of individuals who always prepare to build an effective plan and method of quick response for mitigating any emergency incident such as the occurrence of natural disaster as well as various business operational associated interruptions (Killcrece. 2003). Executive Summary Disaster may harm the community in the form of natural calamity as well as technological disruption. In order to develop an effectual IRT charter, certain sections have been addressed. These sections embraced mission statement, incident declaration, organizational structure, roles along with responsibilities, information flow, communication methods, services offered by the IRT and authority as well as reporting procedures. Mission Statement The mission of the team is to review the situation, provide immediate communication support and apply effective procedures to provide active support to the affected communities. Incident Declaration In order to adopt and execute any action, it is quite essential to determine the objective as well as to review the situation. Technological disasters might appear from system failure, hacking databases, conducting cyber crime and software corrupt among others (Council on Foundation. 2013). Organizational Structure The following can be the organizational structure of the IRT. Roles and Responsibilities Board of Directors should conduct any emergency meeting and make approvals, Executive Directors should manage overall response as well as design active plan, Administrative Team should adopt and execute immediate steps and return the normal operations as quick as possible, Technical Team ought to provide alternate technical facilities for maintaining effectual communication flow, Fund Development Authority requires collecting fund and devising an effective financial plan, Human Resource Department need to provide real life training to the relief team and Relief teams required to work with full of responsibility and quickly as much as possible (Council on Foundation. 2013). Information Flow and Methods of Communication One of the communication methods can be viewed as telecommunication through which the flow of valuable information would effectively take place between the service providers and the victims relating to any emergency (Council on Foundation. 2013). Methods and Services Provided by the IRT The different methods as well as services that might deliver by the IRT comprise monitoring the situation, providing ICT support, coordinating with human resources and most vitally offering financial as well as medical support to the relief teams (Council on Foundation, 2013). Authority and Reporting Procedures As per the above depicted organizational structure, the authority and the reporting procedures of the IRT can follow top-down method for acquiring quick response of the higher authority as well as getting approval and required resources to control any disastrous situation (Council on Foundation. 2013). Conclusion Cisco Systems, Inc. has been observed to render significant value to its global customer base through the offering of quality networking based products. The prevailing network architecture of Cisco has been determined to be quite competent to deal with different emergency like scenarios such as fire and earthquake among others. It has formulated a Network Management Reference Architecture (NMRA) to facilitate customers and meet its operational requirements. However, in order to meet the alternating and emerging needs related to disaster recovery the organisation is required to follow certain pertinent polices which can enable it to address potential risk scenario successfully. References Cisco Systems, Inc. (2013). Introduction. Cisco Corporate Citizenship Report, pp. 4-62. Council on Foundation. (2013). Responsibility and delegation of authority. Disaster Preparedness And Recovery Plan, pp.3-59. Disaster Recovery. (n.d.). IT network disaster recovery. business continuity/DR steps. Retrieved from http://www.disasterrecovery.org/it_network_dr.html Intech Open Science. (2013). Remote sensing and the disaster management cycle. Retrieved from http://www.intechopen.com/books/advances-in-geoscience-and-remote-sensing/remote-sensing-and-the-disaster-management-cycle Killcrece, G. (2003). Computer security incident response teams. State of the Practice of Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs), pp. 1-291. Liu, L. W., Jang, L. J., Leu, F. Y., Wang, J. J. & Wang, S. T. (2010). From a cross-disciplinary approach to construct a model of community disaster management support system. Retrieved from http://www.massey.ac.nz/~trauma/issues/2010-2/lw_liu.htm Network World. (2013). Management vision of Cisco CEO John Chambers under fire. Retrieved from http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/44218 The New York Times. (2013). Company information. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/cisco_systems_inc/index.html The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. (2013).What happens in a technological disaster - defining the event. Coping With Technological Disasters, pp. 1-55. Read More