Information Technology Disaster Recovery Plan

Overview
An information technology disaster recovery plan (ITDRP) should be developed in conjunction with a business continuity plan. Priorities and recovery time objectives for information technology should be developed during the business impact analysis. Technology recovery strategies should be developed to restore hardware, applications and data in time to meet the needs of the business recovery.

Businesses large and small create and manage large volumes of electronic information or data. Much of that data is important. Some data is vital to the survival and continued operation of the business. The impact of data loss or corruption from hardware failure, human error, hacking or malware could be significant. A plan for data backup and restoration of electronic information is essential.

Information technology systems require hardware, software, data and connectivity. Without one component of the "system," the system may not run. Therefore, recovery strategies should be developed to anticipate the loss of one or more of the following system components:


 * Computer room environment (secure computer room with climate control, conditioned and backup power supply, etc.)
 * Hardware (networks, servers, desktop and laptop computers, wireless devices and peripherals)
 * Connectivity to a service provider (fiber, cable, wireless, etc.)
 * Software applications (electronic data interchange, electronic mail, enterprise resource management, office productivity, etc.)
 * Data and restoration.

Some business applications cannot tolerate any downtime. They utilize dual data centers capable of handling all data processing needs, which run in parallel with data mirrored or synchronized between the two centers. This is a very expensive solution that only larger companies can afford. However, there are other solutions available for small to medium sized businesses with critical business applications and data to protect.

Source

 * "IT Disaster Recovery Plan" (full-text).