Hope for the best but prepare for the worst is a mantra by which all business owners should live. According to a study conducted by Gartner, the average cost of information technology (IT) downtime incurred by businesses is over $5,000 per minute. If your business’s IT infrastructure experiences an outage, you’ll need to get it back up and running as quickly as possible. Fortunately, a disaster recovery plan can help you achieve this goal. Below are five essential parts of an effective disaster recovery plan.
#1) IT Workers
When creating a disaster recovery name, you should include the names of IT workers and their respective duties. IT workers are employees — or they can be freelancers — who are responsible for maintaining your business’s IT infrastructure. If a disaster occurs, you’ll need to leverage their expertise to get your business’s IT infrastructure back up and running.
#2) List of Devices
Don’t forget to list all of your business’s devices in your disaster recovery plan. The complexity of an IT infrastructure, of course, varies depending on how many devices are connected to it. The more devices your business’s IT infrastructure has, the more complex it will be. As a result, troubleshooting problems will become more difficult. You can simplify the process of troubleshooting IT-related problems, however, by listing all of your business’s devices in your disaster recovery plan.
#3) Backup Technologies
Another important part of a disaster recovery plan is backup technologies. Backup technologies refer to the software, programs, hardware and other tools that your business uses to back up its data. If a disaster occurs, you may need to restore lost data from a backup copy.
#4) Communications
Communications is something else you should include in your disaster recovery plan. Depending on the type of disaster, your business’s customers may be affected. Some IT disasters can result in customers’ data being lost or breached. In cases such as this, you’ll need to inform your business’s customers. In your disaster recovery plan, you can include a section that explains how you’ll communicate this information to customers and other affected individuals.
#5) Testing
Finally, testing is an essential part of a disaster recovery plan. Testing focuses on hardware and software. You should regularly test your business’s device, as well as the software it uses, to ensure they work. With a section for testing, you’ll have a more comprehensive disaster recovery plan that helps your business get back up and running following an IT-related disaster.
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