Posted on Tue, Jan 26, 2010 @ 04:30 PM
- All threats in a disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) plan should be highlighted as part of the risk assessment phase of the BC plan. The risk assessment should incorporate all sites, which includes the disaster recovery site. And if the risk assessment is completed correctly, and an objective view of all threats are identified, there should not be any hidden threats in an organization. However, unanticipated threats can still occur, which are issues that can come up during or part of an unforeseen incident. For example, damage to the infrastructure (road closures) can cause delays in reaching your disaster recovery site, which will affect the recovery time.
Also, if the BC plan is not reviewed properly it may contain incorrect information which can threaten the disaster recovery process. If the business focus has been modified since the BC plan was compiled and these changes have not been incorporated within the BC plan, the recovery process will not go smoothly. Similarly, if hardware in your company has been modified and you have not updated your DR plan, you may have issues with the recovery. Both the disaster recovery and business continuity plans need to be current to reduce unanticipated surprises.
Lastly, hidden threats may exist if the business continuity plan does not reflect reality. That is, if the business impact analysis (BIA) does not reflect the true impact on the organization, issues may arise. For this reason it is important to be accurate in the BIA looking at dependencies up and down the line to ensure the recovery time objectives (RTOs) are correct.
Written by Harvey Betan
Posted on Fri, Apr 10, 2009 @ 05:53 PM
Being an IT Managed Services Company (MSP) we find so many business trying to nickel and dime on their technology. For some reason most business owner's don't realize that their entire business future could potentially be gone with a disaster to their technology. When I say disaster I don't mean just natural disasters. Things like power outages, sprinkler system breaking, power surges, data backup failure, server crash and many other things can destroy your data.
When you ask a business owner why do they invest in Accountants and Attorneys? The normal response is because I need their service to run my business. But the real answer is to protect their business. So once again.... Why don't business owners invest in protecting their company's technology, the one thing that can make them more efficient, productive, and help with their bottom line? I do not know!!!
Check this statistic out.
According to research by the University of Texas, only 6 percent of companies suffering from a catastrophic data loss survive, while 43 percent never reopen and 51 percent close within two years.
Gartner estimates that only 35 percent of SMBs have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place.
International Data Corp. estimates that companies lose an average of $84,000 for every hour of downtime. According to Strategic Research, the cost of downtime is estimated at close to $90,000 per hour.
According to a recent NFIB National Small Business Poll, man-made disasters affect 10% of small businesses, whereas natural disasters have impacted more than 30% of all small businesses in the USA. Hurricanes are by far the most destructive force causing power failure, flooding, customer loss, and the closure of many businesses.
According to a recent Touché Ross study, the survival rate for companies without a disaster recovery plan is less than 10%!
According to analyst firm IDC, about 70% of all successful attacks on computer networks were carried out by employees and insiders.
If you are in Southern California and want a FREE Data Security and Backup Analysis click on the link below to sign up http://www.pain-free-it.com/products/disaster-recovery---business-continuity-/remote-backup/
Tom Hill
Managing Partner
Technology Management Solutions
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www.pain-free-it.com