Threats, reactions, impact analysis, people, updates, priorities, and drills. Your business has to learn the “literature” behind a successful disaster recovery plan.  

Let’s think of it this way: Imagine you work hard to create a successful business, with proper digital infrastructure and significant commitments towards partners, customers, authorities, etc. Then comes an earthquake, a tornado, a fire, a flood…Your disaster recovery plan is there to save your life.  

Have you ever thought how thorough is your plan? When was it tested? Have you updated it recently? Is your stuff ready to meet with the requirements? Is your plan complete?  

We made this post to remind you of 4 important things your disaster recovery plan should include:  

1. Know your threats 

An analysis of the potential threats your business is facing is key. Think of location, community, history, environment, and make sure you can identify all potential “interrupters” for your business.  

Having business continuity in mind, you should come up with a recovery plan against each scenario.  

Just remember, you have to be realistic in order to make the right assumptions. 

Of course, not all scenarios are equally likely to occur and you will have to prioritize things such as cyber-attacks which are now more likely to take place when compared to physical disruptions.  

2. People – You need to educate them 

Often, we see companies making disaster recovery and business continuity plans focused on technology and infrastructure and ignoring people.  

In order to have an effective recovery, your people have to be at the forefront, well-trained and well-informed. A plan should include parameters such as:  

- Who will be called into work in an emergency? 

- Who will be in touch with local authorities?  

- Who will handle communication with clients, customers, partners?  

- Who will manager employees during the recovery process?  

- Who will be replacing employees if the recovery process takes toο long (shifts, etc.)?  

Beforehand, you will need to define how much information you will reveal to all parties involved in the plan and what laws apply in these cases in your region.  

3. Frequent updates 

A disaster recovery plan is never complete unless it takes into account all the latest developments and changes at your company.  

Updating your plan in terms of technologies, people, systems, applications, is key. After all, we are all well aware that business objectives tend to change. To that, an outdated plan is a “no-execute” plan and can cause more harm than you would expect.  

4. Drills according to the importance 

A disaster recovery plan needs regular testing and evaluation. People have to practice procedures and provide feedback on a regular basis. You do not have to worry about people making mistakes during testing. It is the only way to make sure everything will work fine, in case a negative event comes up.  

Do you have questions on the above? Our team will be thrilled to get in touch with you: https://lamdahellix.com/contact-us