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Disaster Recovery
Fires, Floods,
Hurricanes, Tornados,
Theft, and Vandalism.
Disasters
Happen
An article by Patricia
Buescher, in the January 2005
Oregon Business
magazine states that ". . . up to 40% of small businesses
do not reopen after a major disaster."
So, what should
your company do to protect against a potential disaster?
The first step is to document the flow of business information.
Try to understand why the information flows in that manner. What
factors impede or accelerate the flow of information? Understanding
these relationships is the basis for determining the importance
of the information to the ongoing business and its priority in the
overall disaster recovery strategy. Inventory the information in
use. Gather, as a part of this inventory, the format of the information
(paper, electronic document, E-mail, etc.). Document this information
in a spreadsheet or some other easily used format that readily communicates
the information flow.
Next, assess potential risks. Determine the risk tolerance
of the business in order for it to continue to operate. Once the
inventory has been completed, assign specific risk levels
to the documents, for example:
- Critical: Without which
the business can not operate.
- Vital: The business
can operate while the information is reconstructed but is severely
impacted.
- Important: The information
needs to be reconstructed but is less important.
- Neutral: The business
is not adversely affected if the information isn't readily available.
Then, assess the availability
of the documents if a disaster occurs. Will the information be accessible,
either immediately or shortly after the disaster? For
example, paper documents that are required to operate the business
--such as customer files--but aren't maintained in duplicate
or backed up electronically, would be assessed as Critical.
Finally, categorize your requirements based on the format
of the information used in your business--that is, internal and/or
external electronic documents, E-mail, internal and/or external
paper reports, and others.
Companies that develop appropriate disaster recovery programs and
related technology implementations can realize a number of benefits.
These include, in addition to the security of critical records being
stored off-site, improved overall accessibility of information
and potentially better ongoing customer service. Finally, the integration
of these technologies within a company's business processes can
lead to greater productivity overall.
Once a business understands its needs and risks, it should develop
a strategy for completing, and testing, its disaster recovery
plan. Your business can maintain one set of records on-site and
the second set of records off-site for disaster recovery purposes.
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