5 Steps for Building an IT Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Business

Assuming your Information Technology systems will remain functional because you haven’t experienced a disaster in the past can threaten your business’s continuity. Having an IT disaster recovery plan will help protect your business from a damaged reputation, loss of revenue, instability, reduced productivity, and loss of data. The disaster recovery plan will help you focus on essential aspects of your business without worrying about IT downtime.

Here are essential steps to establishing an effective IT disaster recovery plan for your business:

Establish Recovery Objectives and Timelines

You should identify and outline the tolerable timeframes by which systems are expected to be back in operation after a disaster. Creating an RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and an RPO (Recovery Point Objective) can be an excellent place to start. An RTO is the modest amount of time your system can be down after a disaster. An RPO determines the maximum amount of files or data that can be lost after a disaster.

Build an IT Recovery Team

Every business should have a team committed to developing and documenting the disaster recovery plan. Since the recovery plan affects different departments of the organization, it is essential to include members from all departments. You can include IT management, business leaders, unit advisors, and appropriate external consultants.

Network Documentation

It is essential to outline the IT resources-software, hardware, data, user profiles, and systems used in your business operations. The network infrastructure documentation helps ensure appropriate IT resource execution towards the disaster recovery plan. Besides, it will help identify the systems that are likely to be affected by a disaster.

Test Your Disaster Recovery Plan

The last thing you want is to find failed restore points after a disaster. Therefore, it is essential to test your recovery system once or twice a year. You should document and fix any gaps identified during these tests.

Work With the Right Partner

A disaster recovery plan isn’t something you create and forget; you must actively maintain it over time. Working with a managed service provider allows you to consistently update your plan with new equipment, technologies, and procedures.

Secure Your IT Systems Today

Don’t wait until a catastrophic event or a cyber security attack ruins your business operations. At West County Computers, we have a team of IT professionals ready to secure your business with a top-shelf disaster recovery plan. Contact us online or call us at 707-360-8652 to learn more about our cyber security services. You can also schedule a free IT risk assessment with our team.