Disaster Recovery Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Disaster Recovery Plan - Essay Example Requirements Definition, Assessment of the Overall Firm Vulnerability The company's software and systems assets are based on commercial off the shelf software or COTS coming from Microsoft and NetApp, together with products that are tailored for government. Storage for the company's data is via NetApp Storage, making use of SnapMirror as the technology to partly enable the process of disaster recovery. Microsoft COTS are the Microsoft line of Server products, including Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, and Microsoft SharePoint, among others (Bahan, 2003; CXO Media/ IDG Enterprise, 2012; US Small Business Administration, 2010; University of Toronto Information + Technology Services, 2012; Microsoft Corporation, 2012; NetApp, 2012; NetApp, 2011). B. Analysis of Impact to the Business While software and systems are off the shelf, the data is customized and unique to the company. The customizations on the COTS software can be backed up and reconfigured on copies in the event of disaster , but data is another matter. The impact of data loss due to a disaster can include the company being unable to resume operations, leading to the collapse of the company's viability as a going concern. On the other hand, while data recovery and storage is important, so are the costs associated with making data resilient in the event of disaster. ... Requirements Definition Systems have to be reconfigurable in the event of disaster. Redundant data must be the norm, located at different locations, so that a localized disaster will not disrupt vital company processes. Ideally, the setup is to include NetApp storage managing redundant data, and two parallel and identical systems made up of NetApp and Microsoft COTS are to run, with one on standby to kick in and take over from the live environment once the live environment fails in the event of a disaster (Bahan, 2003; CXO Media/ IDG Enterprise, 2012; US Small Business Administration, 2010; University of Toronto Information + Technology Services, 2012; Microsoft Corporation, 2012; NetApp, 2012; NetApp, 2011). D. Development of the Plan An oversight team is to form the different committees in charge of the company's functional departments, interfacing with IT in order to come up with a data backup and recovery plan, as well as a systems backup and recovery plan, for each of the functi onal departments. The recovery plan will flow from the big picture setup of redundant systems and redundant data residing on different locations, managed by NetApps on the storage side (Bahan, 2003; CXO Media/ IDG Enterprise, 2012; US Small Business Administration, 2010; University of Toronto Information + Technology Services, 2012; Microsoft Corporation, 2012; NetApp, 2012; NetApp, 2011). E. Plan Implementation, Testing The same oversight committee, made up of the company CEO and CTO as the project managers, shall have overall project ownership for the plan, and shall undertake the testing and implementation of the plan. Testing shall be done via simulating a disaster situation and the failure of