Disaster Recovery Plan - Assignment Example

Disaster Recovery Plan Assignment An effective disaster recovery plan helps an organization to efficiently react and deal with threats efficiently. This paper attempts to indentify and describe the key components of a disaster recovery plan for any incident that could lead to the disruption of an organization’s data and network. The main aim of the recovery plan is to address two major functional areas: the recovery and the restoration of organizational data and systems. Preparation Disaster recovery team A good disaster recovery plan starts with the formation of the disaster recovery team. The table below shows the key members of the disaster recovery team and their responsibilities. Title Responsibilities Administrative support team (executive sponsor ) Comprised of senior managers who offer administrative support to the team. Ensures that all resources needed are made available Disaster Recovery Coordinator Responsible for directing and coordinating the various aspects of the recovery process. IT members and the crisis management team Helps assess the damage to systems. Examines the nature and extent of the damage created. The crisis management team will decide the immediate course of action to be taken. This is usually composed of representatives from all departments in the organization with specific expertise relating to the departments they represent. Communication team This team will be responsible for providing communication about the disaster and the extent of the damage. This communication is given to other employees, the media and the investors. Transportation team In case there is need to transport certain records or equipment to a different location, the transportation team will facilitate this process. For example, in case of a natural disaster such as a flood, key equipment and documents need to be moved to a secure location. This team may also help in the movement of staff and the team members when necessary, especially for large organizations. Logistical officer(s) The logistical officer will be in charge of all the supplies used in the recovery process. In case of external support, the logistical officer should make arrangements to get the support and keep all records and agreements intact. Security team This group of people will be responsible for ensuring that the safety of personnel and equipment is guaranteed. During a disaster, it is likely that the entire organization might be exposed to greater security and safety risks. Understanding the major assets and threats The second step is to identify the key assets within the organization and the impact of each asset. This will help the disaster recovery team understand the value of each asset to the organization and the strategies to be used in protecting that asset. In addition, this step allows the organization understand the major threats against the business assets identified. Some of these threats include terrorism, hardware failure, cyber attacks and theft among others. Implementation Activation planning The implementation of the recovery plan begins during the activation planning. This process is carried out by the recovery team or part of the team. This step helps in listing those systems that need to be restored, give the time estimates required for each system to be restored and give a clear communication plan between the recovery team members or groups. Execution During this phase, all the staff members and recovery teams have been notified. The execution phase is based on the recovery strategies identified by the recovery team. This may involve relocating and carrying out the recovery at alternate site. The recovery team follows a sequence of activities during the recovery. The sequence of activities is dictated by the nature of assets that need to be recovered. The most critical components are recovered first. Each action is made to complete within the stated time frame. During this phase, the recovery coordinator ensures that members of the team have been assigned their roles with clear time frames. There are various recovery procedures that can be undertaken during this phase to restore the affected systems or components. These procedures may include: getting access to the affected areas, notifying the users of the affected system, acquiring the required hardware components, loading backup media, restoring the critical applications and systems, and restoring the system data. The recovery team follows a well documented recovery procedure that has been laid down by the organization. Operation and Maintenance This is the last phase of the disaster recovery pan. During this phase, the operations of the organization are restored back to normal. The activities of the execution phase have been completed and shut down. In case the recovery phase failed to restore a particular system back to functionality, this phase may also involve purchasing or rebuilding a new system. Depending on the nature of the disaster, this phase might take up to months for operations to be brought back to normal. Once a given system has been restored back to normal operations, the services it previously carried out may now be brought back. This phase may also be called the business continuity phase where all the operations of the organizations are brought back to normal. Below are some of the activities that take place during this phase: Ensuring continuous monitoring of the site for safety Making sure that all facilities and infrastructural services such as power, water systems and office equipment are working as required For computer systems, the necessary hardware and software components have to be installed Carrying out a full test of the systems to ensure they are functioning normally Shutting down of the contingency system Organizing of staff members so that they resume their normal duties within the organization There is also a maintenance aspect associated with this phase. Under this phase, a review of the exiting disaster recovery plan is done in order to ensure that it is still relevant. This is because as new technologies come into the market and businesses expand, the existing plan may not be able to address the changing needs of the organization. The maintenance of the recovery plan is supposed to be undertaken periodically, regardless of whether or not a disaster has occurred. However, undertaking a review immediately after a disaster helps the organization understand the aspects of the plan that failed and device methods of correcting them. Reference Snedaker, S (2011). Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Plan Development. In Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning for IT Professionals (pp. 293-330). Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More