Globally, businesses’ s lifecycles have been redefined by the advancement in Information Technology (IT).
Business operations are in recent times being greatly influenced and made flexible by networking concept.
Wide Area Network and similar technologies have helped in making business operations more efficient and fast in the competitive market.
Being that very important, establishments have now seen the need to embark on measures that will guarantee the smooth running of their Information Technology infrastructure and ensure business continuity.
One of the major ways of doing that is to prepare a functional and efficient network disaster recovery plan.
A network disaster recovery plan is a system prepared to help the organisation respond to any interruption of network failure either due to natural forces or man-made incident.
Enterprise systems run smoothly where there is an efficient disaster recovery plan to deal with potential natural or man-made made disasters and help in minimizing disruptions to the networks and quickly restore normalcy of operations.
Network disaster recovery plan is useful in achieving the following objectives:
- Reduces disruption of business operations
- Minimizing long delays in business continuity
- Guarantee some level of security
- Assuring reliable backup systems
- Increase speed of restoration of business operations
- Help reduce task for IT support desk
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Network vulnerability incidences are on the rise by the day, and businesses are always at the receiving end.
Therefore, organisations are compelled to make adequate disaster recovery provisions to safeguard their IT operations vis avis their business operations.
The truth is always that safety is for those who see the disaster before it occurs and prepares for it.
It is not just for those who see the disaster in advance but do nothing about it but for those who take proactive steps to prepare for it by setting up the necessary measures to overcome or even secure the system, restore the operations and secure the files.
Steps to prepare Network Disaster Recovery Plan
Network Disaster Recovery Plan design needs careful and meticulous analysis and planning.
The analysis needs to be done on components such as existing network infrastructure, applications, databases, equipment, environmental safety, organizational setup and other details involved.
Also, the disaster recovery document itself must contain elements like
- disaster recovery team personnel with contact details
- recovery time objective and communication methods at the time of the disaster
- alternative facility for the organization
- and master list of all inventory
- storage locations
- customer/vendor
- forms and policies.
Steps to follow:
Form a Disaster Recovery Team:
The management of the organisation has to constitute a disaster recovery team that will help in the whole disaster recovery operations.
This team should be made up of core members from all departments with representative from the top management and headed mostly by the Head of ICT department of the organsation.
The team will be saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation and progress of the network disaster recovery plan.
Carry Out Risk Assessment:
There is always the need for risk analysis and business impact analysis to be conducted, which will cover the entire scope of possible disasters, both natural and manmade.
With such proper analysis, it is easier to proffer measures that can protect certain resources before, during and after the disaster .
Prioritize Processes and Operations:
Each department’s critical requirements must be traced out with reference to items like processes, data, documentation, services, operations, key resources and policies/procedures. This is to assist in ensuring workflow follows top priority activities and make the work easier.
Data Collection:
The entire data about the organisation must be compiled and documented which will include but not limited to the following
- inventory of forms
- policies
- equipment
- communications
- important telephone numbers
- contact details and customer details
- equipment
- systems
- applications and resources description
- onsite and offsite location
- details of backup storage facility and retention schedules
- other materials and documentation
Creating the Disaster Recovery Plan:
At this point, it is time to create the network disaster recovery plan. The plan must be created in a standard and simplified format avoiding ambiguity.
The plan must detail essential processes and procedures with concise explanations. The plan should show step-by-step details of what must be done during the event of the disaster.
The plan as well should have a procedure for maintaining and updating of the plan periodically.
The network disaster recovery team is to regularly review the plan and implementation to ensure everything goes according to schedule.
Plan Testing:
The last step on the list is to test the developed network disaster recovery plan to guarantee it’s functionality and efficiency.
The testing exercise will provide an opportunity for changes and possible adjustments of parameters and processes for better and efficient plan.
Different test models can be engaged which may include Simulation test, checklist tests, Parallel test, Full interruption tests etc.
Click here to see samples of Network disaster recovery test