Disaster recovery solutions are critical to many organizations' data operations. Even if you feel you have a robust set of DR solutions in place, though, it's important to have a checklist in hand for planning and execution purposes. Put these four items on your checklist so your organization can get back to normal as quickly as possible.
Audit Your Available Resources
You will never be able to conduct a structured recovery process if you don't know what your available resources are. For example, does your organization have access to redundant systems like hybrid cloud solutions? You want to separate the backups physically from the main copies to ensure an event at one site won't wipe everything out.
Similarly, you'll need to have reserve resources to handle the recovery process. Do you have backup systems and components in place to receive the recovered data once you begin recovery efforts?
Outline Objectives in Stages
Every operation should prioritize what it needs to recover so it can conduct the process in stages. An e-commerce website, for example, would probably want to get transactional systems back online as quickly as possible.
Each stage should also establish time-based objectives. If a company needs to activate backup copies from a hybrid multi-cloud setup, for example, it needs to factor in how long it might take to move copies of software, databases, and files around. Likewise, it will then need to verify the security and accuracy of the restored data. That takes time so set realistic objectives based on observations.
Identify and Assign Roles
Your team members should know their roles, especially as they relate to your outlined objectives and timelines. Someone should operate in a constant monitoring role, and they should know who to contact to initiate the recovery process. That party should assemble people qualified to assess the situation and mount a response using appropriate disaster recovery solutions.
Develop Instructions
With an understanding of the resources, objectives, and people involved, you can now develop explicit instructions. Ideally, the instructions will minimize misunderstandings and potential failures. They should state which parties need to perform which tasks in a sequence.
Likewise, the instructions should address all possible contingencies. Ultimately, there will be instructions within the instructions so people can follow the flowchart to logical conclusions.
The instructions should also state which DR solutions are involved with the process. You want people to spend as little time thinking and as much time working during this period. If they encounter unanticipated problems, they can tackle those while assigning known problems to folks already engaged with the instructions.
For more information about these processes, contact a local company, like Nfina.
One of the toughest things about living and working in the technology age is keeping your data secure. Your company's data includes not only sensitive information about your company's products and development, but also about your customers and clients. I have always had a fascination with technology and network security, so I made it my mission to understand it inside and out. It allowed me to keep my home and business networks secure, and to help my friends with similar issues. I created this site to share tips and tricks for other business owners to do the same thing. I hope that the information here helps others to protect their interest through the implementation of adequate security measures.