5 Critical components of an IT disaster recovery plan

5 Critical components of an IT disaster recovery plan

Power outages, floods, equipment failures, man-made errors, and other disasters lead to data breaches and IT downtime. Without a disaster recovery plan, your business will spend thousands of dollars repairing damages and regaining lost profits. Considering that 40% of businesses never reopen after a disaster, neglecting disaster recovery puts your company's existence at serious risk.

Despite knowing the importance of a robust business continuity plan, many organizations remain uncertain about how to handle IT disasters. You can stay resilient in the face of any disaster if you take these steps when creating a disaster recovery plan.

#1 Identify potential threats to your company

Different businesses deal with different kinds of natural and man-made catastrophes. For example, SMBs in Baltimore -- which is susceptible to hurricanes, flooding, and severe winter weather -- should prepare for week-long power outages with IT solutions that enable remote working in the face of office closures.

And if data breaches are more common in your area, you should have a dependable backup system, the latest firewall software, and access to reliable cybersecurity specialists.

Businesses located in non-disaster prone areas may be lulled into complacency like the state of Maryland, which was spared from some of history’s worst hurricanes. But disasters are extremely unpredictable, and business continuity should never be neglected. Analyzing the impact to your business of, say, a weeklong-storm, will help you determine how to keep your company up and running should the worst happen.

#2 List the IT assets that need to be protected

Keeping an inventory of all your IT assets will come in handy when you create or refine your DR plan. Certain IT assets are more important than others, and for many organizations, keeping track of everything can be daunting. What’s worse is that some businesses make things harder for themselves by tracking their inventory incorrectly.

Use inventory management tools to keep an eye on all your IT assets, so you can efficiently organize your inventory. Your list should have detailed information of your hardware, software, and other resources, including purchase dates, service dates, and locations.

#3 Store backups in offsite data centers

During a disaster, disruptions like power outages prevent you from accessing your data for prolonged periods. Having your business files backed up in a secure offsite data center ensures you’ll be able to access them during a disaster and recover them afterwards. Choose a backup service provider with service level agreements that meet your business’s needs. Your IT partner should be able to promise that you’ll recover your business-critical files and get your business up and running as soon as possible.

#4 Draw up a contingency plan

Everyone in your organization should know what to do in an emergency situation, which is where a detailed business contingency plan comes in. With a comprehensive plan, every staff member knows what to do and whom to communicate with during chaotic times. This plan needs to include a step-by-step procedure on keeping customers, third-party vendors, and other stakeholders informed of the business’s status.

#5 Test and refine the plan

You don’t have to wait for an actual hurricane to determine if your disaster recovery strategy will work. Regularly test your DR plan to prevent corruption, ensure success of data retrieval, and easily adjust the plan based on your changing business requirements.

If necessary, simulate a disaster scenario so your employees know exactly what they should do in case of an actual disaster. To test your plan, work with a reliable IT consulting team who can create relevant disaster preparedness tests and help you refine your business’s disaster recovery strategy.

NetQuest’s certified IT consulting team has helped organizations in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Towson develop disaster recovery strategies that guarantee they can put out fires, no matter when they happen. Call our experts today to get started on your developing or improving your disaster recovery plan.

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