In 2024, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) was notified of 527 data breaches – the highest number in the last three and a half years. This frightening figure highlights a little-known truth: even the strongest security measures cannot necessarily prevent a disaster, and recovery planning is more important than ever. Without solid disaster recovery strategies, your business is left completely defenceless during an emergency. To ensure long term survival and maintenance of business processes, your staff must know how to react when things go wrong.
What is Disaster Recovery?
A disaster recovery plan (or DR plan) outlines the strategies and procedures your business will use to restore systems and data after a disruptive event. The goal is to resume normal operations as quickly and smoothly as possible, while minimising damage. Whether downtime is the result of a natural disaster or a ransomware attack, your disaster recovery plan can make all the difference between a minor disruption and days of downtime.
Disaster Recovery Plan Example
To better understand how it mitigates harm, here is a brief disaster recovery plan example:
Imagine a mid-sized company that relies heavily on its website and cloud storage. If they lose access to either of these, they cannot function. Their disaster recovery procedure plan might include:
- Daily data backups across multiple devices
- Detailed instructions for restoring website functionalityups across multiple devices
- Contact information for cloud service providers
- Alternative platforms to use if their cloud services are non-functional
This plan for recovery would help ensure that business continues as normally as possible if these critical systems are knocked offline.
Planning Disaster Recovery Effectively
Effectively planning disaster recovery requires thorough strategy:
1. Conduct a Risk Assessment
Step one is assessing risk. Identify the types of disasters that could impact your business. This might include cyber-attacks, power outages, or natural disasters.
2. Perform a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
A BIA is exactly what it sounds like: you will be determining how each potential disaster would affect your business operations. Work from the most critical systems backwards, to get an accurate picture. This exercise allows you to prioritise your disaster recovery solutions effectively.
3. Define Recovery Objectives
Two crucial metrics to track are your:
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The longest acceptable time recovery can take
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The maximum amount of data that can acceptably be lost, measured in time.
These will set realistic expectations you can use to judge the success of your disaster recovery process.
4. Choose Disaster Recovery Plan Solutions
Decide which solutions will best mitigate damage and ensure business continuity, based on your risk profile and BIA. Plan for recovery from a wide range of threats, to avoid being caught off-guard.
5. Assign Roles and Responsibilities
Clearly define who will be responsible for which tasks, then inform each person of their role. Keep a written version of your plan where it can be easily accessed – this way, no one will forget.
6. Review and Test
Test and review your disaster recovery strategies regularly. Run drills to check that it functions as expected during a real-world scenario, then take notes on what worked and what didn’t. As your business changes and new threats emerge, remember to adapt your plan so it doesn’t become obsolete.
Bonus: Don’t Forget a Disaster Recovery Plan for Cloud Services
A disaster recovery plan for cloud services is essential for modern businesses. While providers do offer built-in security features, they are not infallible. Some potential solutions include:
- Multi-region data replication.
- Automated backups and snapshots.
- Integration with your on-premise recovery processes.
What Are Disaster Recovery Planning Services?
If your business lacks internal IT resources, or you need assistance, disaster recovery planning services offer an alternative to in-house planning. These third-party experts provide guidance, tools, and support to help you implement and maintain an effective plan.
Managed disaster recovery planning services often include:
- Custom disaster recovery plan solutions based on your business needs.
- Cloud-based backup and replication services.
- Continuous monitoring and automated failover systems.
- Assistance with compliance and regulatory requirements.
- Testing and simulation exercises.
The Information You Need to Prevent and React to Disasters Effectively
A strong disaster recovery plan provides your business with more than a simple safety net. It’s a strategic asset that shields you from the unexpected, reduces downtime, and will ultimately improve long-term profitability. Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing plan, ensure that it addresses all necessary areas, includes realistic objectives, and is tested regularly. This will allow you to face tomorrow’s challenges with confidence.
Are you looking for more information about how to protect and maintain your IT infrastructure? National IT can equip you with all the tools you need. Explore our insights and empower your business to reach greater heights.
