Quick Start Guide to Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning
When running a business, your daily focus is likely on managing operations, satisfying customers, and driving growth and profitability. With so many pressing matters demanding your attention, it’s understandable why Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) may slip down the priority list.
After all, it’s tempting to think that disasters only really impact large corporations or are just improbable. However, it only takes a look at the latest news to see that all businesses are vulnerable to events like natural disasters and cyber threats - and they’re becoming increasingly more common.
The lack of a robust BCDR Plan can jeopardise your business’ very existence. We’ve put together this quick start guide to simplify the process and help you to prepare your business for whatever comes next.
Understanding Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning
Business Continuity (BC) refers to the processes and procedures a business needs to follow to ensure it can continue to operate during and after a disruptive event. Your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) should include steps for identifying potential risks and threats, outlining response and recovery procedures, and establishing communication protocols.
Disaster Recovery (DR) refers to the processes and procedures a business needs to follow to restore its IT systems and data in the event of a disruption. Your Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) should include steps for identifying critical IT systems and data, outlining backup and recovery procedures, and establishing communication protocols.
By developing a sound Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan, you can fortify your business against unexpected events and ensure that your operations continue without interruption.
Creating Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plans
To effectively safeguard your business, here are the key steps to follow when creating your BCDR plans:
Conduct a Business Impact Analysis (BIA):
Identify potential risks and threats to your business, such as natural disasters, cyber attacks, hardware failures, and human errors.
Assess the potential impact of these risks on your business, including financial loss, data breaches, operational downtime, and reputational damage.
Define your Business Objectives:
Determine the maximum tolerable downtime (MTD) for each critical business function or process. MTD represents the acceptable time frame within which a function can be disrupted before it negatively impacts the organisation.
Set recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) for your IT systems. RTO defines the maximum acceptable downtime for IT systems, while RPO represents the acceptable data loss in case of a disruption.
Design Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plans:
Develop comprehensive plans that outline the steps and procedures to be followed during and after a disruptive event.
Include contact lists, emergency response procedures, communication protocols, backup strategies, and recovery workflows.
Establish Data Backup and Recovery:
Regularly back up your critical data and store it securely both on-site and off-site.
Consider using cloud-based backup solutions or disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) to ensure data redundancy and quick recovery.
Test and Improve the Plan:
Conduct regular testing and simulations to verify the effectiveness of your BC/DR plan.
Identify any weaknesses or gaps in the plan and make necessary improvements.
Train your Team:
Train your employees on their roles and responsibilities during a disruptive event.
Raise awareness about the BC/DR plan, ensuring everyone understands their roles, communication channels, and emergency procedures.
Review and Update the Plan:
Continuously review and update your BC/DR plan to reflect changes in your business operations, infrastructure, or identified risks.
Stay informed about emerging threats and technologies that can enhance your BC/DR capabilities.
In order to ensure the safety and continuity of your business, it's important to have a strong BCDR plan in place. And remember, every organisation’s BCDR plan will be unique based on its specific needs and requirements. Consider engaging with a trusted Managed Service Provider (MSP) like Swerve, who can provide expert advice to create and implement processes and systems tailored to your business needs.
Ready to take the first step? Contact Swerve today on it.help@swerve.nz or by booking a call.
