What is IT Disaster Recovery?

 

Typically, within BCM, IT applications and components are identified as critical resources.

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IT Disaster Recovery (IT DR or DR) is a specialised component of an organisation’s business continuity strategy dealing with applications and dependencies used by and to provide IT services to the business.

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IT Disaster Recovery provides a framework to understand the impacts a disruption to IT services may cause to the business and affords the opportunity of advanced planning to manage and limit the damage caused by the disruption

In planning it considers:

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• low probability, large impact events (e.g. loss of server room or data centre

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Disaster Recovery also describes the operational response associated with the recovery of technology-based resources where recovery is effected at another site.

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Why have IT Disaster Recovery?

 

Most business these days have a high dependency on their data and the supporting IT infrastructure.  Threats to data availability can come from a variety of sources e.g.  computer (or component) failure, human error, viruses or natural disasters.

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The successful application of IT DR increases an organisation’s technical resilience from the loss of the sever room or data centre. It provides reassurance to management, shareholders, stakeholders, that your organisation is in “state of readiness” to deal with a major technical disruption.

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IT DR provides the framework to understand how IT supports the business and establishes a direct relationship to dependencies or vulnerabilities inherent in the delivery of IT services.

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It determines how quickly each IT component needs to be recovered and the amount of acceptable data loss in the event of a major technical disruption.

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The IT DR Lifecycle

 

Policy and Programme Management is at the start of the IT DR Lifecycle. It defines the policy relating to DR and how it will be implemented, controlled and validated through a DR programme.

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Embedding DR continually seeks to integrate DR into day-to-day business activities and organisational culture.

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Analysis reviews and assesses an organisation’s IT infrastructure in terms of what its recovery objectives (time to recover and acceptable data loss) are and how it utilises IT resources.

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Design identifies and selects appropriate technology solutions to determine how continuity and recovery from a disruption will be achieved.

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Implementation executes the agreed strategies and tactics through the processes of implementing a technical solution and of developing the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP).

 

Validation confirms that the DR Programme meets the objectives set in the policy and that the organisation’s DRP is fit for purpose.

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