DISASTER RECOVERY
"The over-riding purpose of a disaster recovery plan is to turn a possible disaster into a fast and simple, planned recovery!"
The only way to avoid a disaster that causes an historical average of 90% of corporate entities to enter bankruptcy is through prior planning and investment. Once a disaster occurs, you can only rely on your prior planning.
A Disaster Recovery plan consists of 3 main parts
- Confirmed Backups – Monitored, maintained and regularly tested
- A Pre-Planned and tested procedure to follow in the event of a Disaster, and
- A proportionate investment in appropriate hardware or software to hasten recovery.
Backups
There are several key aspects to successful backups;
- They must be carried out on a daily basis
- They must be fully automated to avoid impacts caused by staff non-attendance
- They must be checked every day for success
- They must routinely be tested for their restore capabilities
- The most recent backup should be kept off site in a secure location
- There should be a minimum of two weeks of historical backup copies available.
The type and size of a fully automated and reliable backup system will be dependent upon your organisations size and requirements.
Disaster Recovery
A disaster recovery plan must address a number of factors so as to be effective no matter what conditions exist at the time of the disaster. These considerations should include;
- How much time in total can the business reasonably afford to be without access to data or the Server.
- What hierarchy of staff is in place in the event the normal decision maker is unavailable
- What hardware / software is available to be used in a recovery situation
- What steps are to be taken for a recovery.
Developing the plan, involves assuming the worst case scenario - which could be standing in front of a burned out office building with the previous days successful backup in your hand.
- A rushed new server will take at least 2 weeks to purchase, build, configure and install.
- Your staff have no workstations to work on.
- Your staff do not have a physical address to go to.
- Internet connectivity has been lost as has phone lines.
- All your documentation, client details and software installation media has been lost in the fire.
How long will your clients peacefully wait for you to recover before they are forced to turn to your competition?
Effective prior planning and preparation will overcome all of these difficulties and can have your business functioning within 4 hours. Discussing and implementing your options for a Disaster recovery plan with an experienced professional will ensure that all possible avenues are addressed with the most appropriate outcomes based on your budget.
ITM Solutions is committed to providing dependable and reliable solutions to suit business needs. For further information on suitable recovery options for your business needs, contact us online or call our friendly staff on 07 3376 3033.