Disaster Recovery Plan to Recover IT systems of ABC Inc - Case Study Example

Full Paper Mission ment and Executive Summary The Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) establishes procedures to recover the IT systems of ABC Inc. following a disruption. ABC Inc. recognizing their operational dependency on IT systems, and the potential loss of revenue and operational control that may occur in the event of a disaster; authorized the preparation, implementation and maintenance of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan. The intent of a Disaster Recovery Plan is to provide a written and tested plan directing the computer system recovery process in the event of an interruption in continuous service resulting from an unplanned and unexpected disaster (Omar, Alijani, & Mason, 2011). 2 Disaster Recovery Plan 2.1 Incident Report Structure All incidents should report to Incident management group. Proper response should be develop to resolve incident Incident management group should identify the type of incident considering the defined criteria and develop proper response for resolution. 2.2 Incident Response Procedure 2.2.1 For Category ‘A’ Incident When identified, person should report incident to any member of Incident Management Group. Incident Management Group call meeting as early as possible to determine action plan. Incident Management Group forward action plan to BCP coordinator or Head of Departments for implementation. 2.2.2 For Category ‘B’ Incident Normal Business Hours Response An emergency that happens during normal business hours, ERT follow emergency procedures available in Appendix ‘A’ to ensure the life and safety of all employees. ERT report incident to IMG IMG call emergency meeting to determine action plan. After Normal Business Hours Response Duty officer or night watchman identify incident should call BCP coordinator or/and ERT leader and report event Following are the procedure to response incident of type ‘B’ category that requires relocation. 3 Damage Assessments ERT leader and BCP coordinator immediately reach office location. ERT leader starts contacting civil authorities to minimize incident. BCP coordinator immediately calls damage assessment team to assess extends of damages. Damage assessment team should prepare preliminary incident report by filling Preliminary damage assessment report. BCP coordinator and ERT leader call IMT and give details according to preliminary Date & Time Area(s) affected Status of physical infrastructure Type of damage E.g. Water, Fire and heat Estimate recovery time 3.1 Preliminary Damage Assessment Report 3.2 Detailed Damage Assessment Report 1- Identify the cause of the emergency 2- Note down the area(s) affected 3- Note the status of the physical infrastructure 4- Describe inventory and functional status of major equipment. E.g. data center, photocopier, furniture etc. 5- Describe items to be replaced; 6- Estimate recovery time for restoration of primary site 3.3 Emergency Meeting Incident Management Group will call emergency meeting to determine specific strategy to resolve issue. Business Continuity coordinator present preliminary damage assessment report to the meeting Considering the initial damage assessment report, Incident Management Group shall analyze situation and prepare action plan accordingly If resumption of business is necessary in response of disaster than IMG should call BCP coordinator to activate Plan otherwise specific plan decided in meeting will be executed. 4 BCP Structure Below is the organization setup for BCP teams. 4.1 Incident Management Group Incident Management Group consisting of senior executives is responsible for activation of Business Continuity Plan on the basis of BCP activation criteria identified at 3.5. The group is also responsible for the overall direction, decision-making, and approvals required in implementation of Business Continuity Plan in the event of disasters. Following are the member of incident Management Group (Kadlec & Shropshire, 2010) • Chief Executive Officer • Chief Financial Officer • Chief Investment officer • Head of Operation • Head of Information Technology • Head of Marketing 4.2 Roles and Responsibility of Incident Management group Incident Management Group (IMG) shall (Guster, McCann, Krzenski, & Lee, 2008): Assess the circumstances leading to declaring a disaster Declare a disaster and activate the Business Continuity and Business Continuity Plan Give necessary instructions to the Business Resumption/Disaster Recovery Coordinators from time to time through Business Continuity Coordinator. Deal with government agencies / Utilities companies/ Emergency Organizations during the disaster for help and support Arrange to protect the life & safety of all employees / customers within the office premise. Arrange for medical assistance in case of injuries of employee(s) / customer within the office premises Approve resources of any kinds required for recovery / resumption of the critical functions/processes/products/services Provide full support and cooperation to all Departmental BR/DR Coordinators for early resumption of their critical processes/functions Resolve dispute/conflict if arising between the IT Disaster Recovery & Emergency Response Team (ER) with any of the Business/ Departmental Recovery Teams 4.3 Business Continuity Coordinator Business Continuity Coordinator (BCC) is responsible for assisting in the activation of Business Continuity Plan. 4.3.1 Role and Responsibility 4.3.1.1 Pre disaster Provide BCP project coordination and management. Conduct a Business Impact Analysis. Perform risk evaluation and mitigation as required. Develop and obtain approval for the Business Continuity Strategy. Develop, implement, and maintain procedures for incident response. 4.3.1.2 On Activation of Plan Make BCP Invocation Call to Business Resumption/Recovery Coordinators Make BCP Invocation Call to IT-Disaster Recovery Coordinators Receiving and seeking information from all BCP teams Liaising with emergency services Reporting information to IMT Mobilizing third party supplier of salvage and recovery services Allocating available resources to recovery teams 5 Emergency Response Team The Emergency Response Team (ERT) shall be responsible for the maintenance & compliance of disaster prevention measures and response in case of a disaster. The ERT shall comprise people from the Administration Department, which will be led by the Head of Department. 5.1 Roles and Responsibility Following are the major role of emergency response team Manage and supervise the emergency efforts/activities during disaster. They will also be responsible for strict compliance of for disaster mitigation and avoidance. Involve in the Evacuation and Rescue operations and movement of staff from Primary Site to Backup Site. Responsible for general services and logistic support 5.2 Business Resumption Coordinator Each Business Department shall designate the Business Resumption (BR) Coordinators who shall be coordinating the activities of resumption and continuation of their critical functions/processes. 5.2.1 Roles and Responsibilities of Business Resumption Coordinator Following are the key responsibilities of a Coordinator of every department during disaster: Departmental Coordinator shall: Make BCP invocation call to all recovery participants to activate the BR Plan of their department. Coordinate Business Resumption / Recovery activities with RPs for early resumption of their critical business processes and functions Closely coordinate with the IT Recovery Teams and Emergency Response Team for recovery of the department Update Business Continuity coordinator on the disaster recovery activities of the department Report any dispute/conflict during disaster activities with Recovery Teams to Business Continuity coordinator May also request Business Continuity coordinator for additional support required during the resumption of their department Keep informed Departmental Head for the resumption of the critical business processes and functions 5.3 Recovery Participants (RP) Recovery Participants (RP) shall actively participate in the activities of resumption of critical business functions of their department. Below are the key responsibilities of an RPs of every department: 5.4 Roles and Responsibilities of Business Resumption Coordinator of recovery participant Make BCP invoking call to Non-Recovery Participants (NRPs) Proactively participate in the Business Resumption activities of department for early resumption of critical business processes and functions Update their departmental Coordinator on the Business Resumption activities Act as the alternate in the absence of Departmental Coordinator Report any dispute/conflict during disaster activities with IT & Emergency Response Team to their Departmental Coordinators 5.5 Non-Recovery Participants (NRPs) Non-Recovery Participants (NRPs) shall be used only in case of emergency or as resumption progresses as the Backup Site or Primary Site. They will coordinate with the RPs and wait for their instructions. Below are responsibilities of an NRP of every department: 5.5.1 Roles and Responsibilities of Business Resumption Coordinator of non-recovery participant Receive BCP Invoking Call from RPs and wait for their instructions Shall remain ready for any emergency need during disasters 6 DRP Backup Procedure The service is virtualized on the physical cluster available at ABC Inc. data center Full Back up is scheduled one time and incremental backup is schedules on daily basis. Backup is executed over WAN Tool that is used is called ‘Veeam’ 7 Recovery Strategy Step 1: Change subnet on client machine Step 2: Connect ESXI server through VSphare client software installed at machine having IP address 192.168.0.0 Step 3: Turn on the Virtual Machine Step 4: Give go ahead to business users to start working 8 Service Restoration Procedure For restoring the service on the primary location, following are the steps that will be performed: Step 1: Damage Assessment report will identity the requirement for software, hardware and database Step 2: Acquisition of required software/hardware/network resources Step 3: The next step will be the configuration of ESXi installation and configuration Step 4: Replication from disaster recovery site to the primary site Step 5: Power on virtual machine References Guster, D., McCann, B., Krzenski, K., & Lee, O. F. (2008). A cost effective, safe, and simple method to provide a disaster recovery plan to small and medium sized businesses. Review of Business Research, 8(4), 63-71. Kadlec, C., & Shropshire, J. (2010). Best practices in IT disaster recovery planning among US banks. Journal of Internet Banking & Commerce, 15(1), 1-11. Omar, A., Alijani, D., & Mason, R. (2011). Information technology disaster recovery plan: Case study. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 10(2), 127-141. Read More