Comprehensive Disaster Recovery Planning for Business Continuity

Benefits

Disaster recovery planning has evolved over the decades. Before the mid-twentieth century, businesses focused on physical threats like fires and environmental phenomena. By the 1950s, technological failures became a more pressing issue. With globalization, climate change, and never-ending digital transformations, companies across industries should include DRPs in their disaster preparedness plans to help them react quickly and recover faster.

Here are other benefits of disaster recovery planning:

• Enhanced Resilience – Business continuity and disaster recovery planning are directly related. When the organization can withstand disruptions, it can minimize financial losses despite the disaster and maintain operations.
• Regulatory Compliance – Today, tech-based threats are so prevalent that governments enforce laws (e.g., General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union (EU), Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US, and the 1988 Privacy Act in Australia) to protect the general public. With DRPs, companies can conscientiously abide by these regulations.
• Improved Customer Confidence – Companies that have proven their ability to prepare for disasters and rise above them are more trusted by the general public. Those that failed faced bankruptcy, shutdown, and even legal repercussions.

Steps in Developing a Disaster Recovery Plan

Following a structured approach when developing a DRP ensures that the organization minimizes operational downtime after an unexpected and unfortunate incident. Here’s the step-by-step guide to the most reliable disaster recovery planning process:

1. Assess risks and analyze business impact.

Risk management teams and business continuity planners should first identify all potential threats that may disrupt their operations. Alongside this is determining Critical Business Functions (CBF) or the processes that should be restored if and when a disaster strikes.

• Cover all bases by including all threats (e.g., natural, human-induced, and technological) and vulnerabilities.
• Evaluate the disaster’s impact on various factors, including operational efficiency, revenue, compliance, and reputation.

2. Clearly define recovery objectives.

A crucial element in a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is establishing measurable goals for recovery. These objectives serve as a guide for administrators so they don’t stray when they create the DRP and help stakeholders get a clearer picture of the plan’s purpose and scope.

• Set Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) for every critical business function.
• Rank recovery objectives based on the company’s priorities and impact analysis.
• Assign personnel to be part of the disaster recovery team and define their roles to ensure prompt response and avoid confusion.

3. Detail recovery strategies.

This step is vital because it outlines every step required to resume normal operations in various disaster scenarios. Every event should have a clear roadmap that the appointed team can easily follow, allowing them to manage emergencies, recover data, and restore systems.

• Diversify strategies to address different types of disruptions.
• Allocate the necessary resources (e.g., personnel, technology, budget) to support the recovery efforts.
• Partner with third-party vendors, such as Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), especially for tech-related disasters.

4. Create back-up for data protection.

Cyberattacks and data breaches aren’t the only disasters that require fail-safe backup plans. Hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes can also cause damage to structures that physically house the organization’s critical data. In this day and age, having this is non-negotiable.

• Encrypt backups for solid data security and regulatory compliance.
• Schedule frequent backups.
• Store backups in secure offsite locations or on the cloud, in case of local disasters.

5. Develop a communication plan.

Communication is imperative during and after any disaster. The intention and processes of the organization must be disseminated to stakeholders immediately, maintaining transparency and accountability.

• Develop templates for critical communications to ensure speed and consistency of messages.
• Utilize various channels (e.g., email, phone, social media) to ensure everyone affected knows what’s happening and that support is available.
• Facilitate top-down and bottom-up information, accepting feedback and suggestions from stakeholders.

6. Conduct regular testing and training.

Validating the plan’s effectiveness is a must as this identifies unexpected challenges, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Periodic exercises validate the recovery strategies and help risk and compliance managers adjust based on lessons learned.

Training workers for disaster response and recovery is crucial in this phase, ensuring everyone involved can act swiftly and efficiently.

• Conduct regular drills and simulations to test the DRP’s effectiveness.
• Provide targeted training to the teams responding to disasters and those who need to work on recovery.

7. Document, maintain, and improve the DRP.

Comprehensive documentation ensures that future teams know the ins and outs of the DRP even when key personnel leave the organization. This also reflects changes throughout the years and how the company adapted accordingly. Most importantly, this makes the document accessible to the right people, especially regulatory agencies and stakeholders.

• Store all DRP and related records in a centralized information hub.
• Implement version control to track changes and updates.
• Schedule reviews to ensure the DRP’s effectiveness in the current climate.