Original post was written for Zetta and can be found on Zetta.com.
Disaster can strike any organization at any time – whether it’s a single lost file or something major enough to make the news. Even if you already have a disaster recovery plan set in place, there are some vital questions you need to be able to answer in order to determine that you are really ready to face anything that comes your way.
Do You Have Offsite Backups?
When it comes to disaster recovery, relying solely on onsite backups just won’t cut it. Offsite backups are a critical component of a disaster recovery plan in the event that a fire or earthquake destroys your onsite backups. Whether you send your backups offsite via tape or the cloud, it’s important that you are sending your backups offsite regularly. Knowing where they are at all times is also a must, so that you can get a better understanding of what the recovery process will look like.
Who is in Charge During a Disaster Scenario?
Recovering from disaster isn’t just about getting data back, it’s about how you get it back. Figuring out everyone’s roles during a disaster scenario is an important component to recovery – not just because it’ll help everyone remain calm, but also because getting back to business will be a much smoother experience.
One of the roles that needs to be decided on is recovery project manager. Another important task is communicating with the rest of the departments in the company – who will take on this responsibility? Who will contact the backup vendor? This could all be done by one person, depending on business size – but establishing these roles before a disaster strikes will prevent a lot of headaches and panic.
Do you know your RTO and RPO?
Maybe you need a refresher on your RTO and RPO. Your RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is how long you can afford to be without your data. You need to know your RTO because being without your critical data for too long can not only hurt business, but even end it for good. Your RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is the amount of data you are okay with losing. Evaluating your RPO should show you how frequently you need to complete backups and send them offsite.
Have You Tested Your Disaster Recovery Plan Recently?
If your disaster recovery plan has started to gather a layer of dust and cobwebs, it might be time to take another look at it and test it. It’s not enough to just have a DR plan – you need to test it until you get the results you are looking for. After that, you have to make sure you are doing regular testing, since your RPO and RTO can change over time. Too many organizations are guilty of not testing their DR plans often enough and then facing unfortunate consequences as a result.
Putting together a disaster recovery plan is not just a one-off activity that you can set and forget – it is a dynamic process. As your business grows and changes, recovery planning needs to change along with it too. The last thing you want is to find out that your DR plan from last year no longer works in the middle of a disaster.