Disaster Recovery

Is your disaster recovery plan a disaster? The unfortunate events of recent months have many organizations scrambling to revive, or create, recovery plans. This is a huge undertaking and critical steps are often missed. The problem is that you don't realize what you missed until you have to actually implement the plan. By then, it is too late. Even if you have contracted with a disaster recovery service, you generally cannot change your service plan after you have declared a disaster.

For this reason, it is critical to find out all you can about what needs to be included in such a plan. One good resource is people who have gone through it. Ask what went wrong, what went right, and if they missed anything. Ask your colleagues what is included in their plans. There are web sites that can offer help, including www.fema.gov/library/bizindex.htm, www.recovery.sungard.com and www.comdisco.com, But most importantly, know your own organization.

Knowing your own business processes is the key to developing a thorough plan. How do your customers contact you? How do you contact them, and your suppliers? Make sure you include all possible avenues of communication. Your customers are your business and they need to be able to reach you. Don't forget the IVR, the auto attend, DID services, toll free lines. Identify key business functions and determine what tools are needed to keep them running.

You may also need contingency plans for relocation of personnel. Not only will your services need to be moved, but you might also need to relocate people. They will have many needs as well, so don't forget the personal side of a disaster plan. How will employees know what is going on? How can they reach you? Do you know how to reach them? Where will they show up to work? How will they get there? The American Red Cross has some good information available at www.redcross.org

Many organizations have plans for recovery of corporate data, but voice is often forgotten. Think about how long you could really survive without any phone service. If your voice mail has ever been down for more than 3 minutes, you probably answered enough user complaints to understand how critical these services are. The real key is in convincing upper management to support such an effort, and to fund it. The cost of not having a recovery program might well be much higher than the cost of the program. You won't know until you really need it, but then it will be too late.