Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning

9/11 and Katrina taught us much, but some of the most gripping stories were of those that simply were not ready. Are you ready? Are you sure?

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans (BCP) are a critical component of insuring the lifeblood of any business. Just like the Business Plan that details where the organization is headed and how it will get there, the BCP details how to get back to normal operations after a disaster strikes.

The BCP can often seem overwhelming to any mature organization, which has so many moving parts, it seems unrealistic to consider any and every disaster possibility and mitigation and recovery steps for each department. While it can certainly seem a tremendous effort, our approach is methodical and sensible and results in a realistic, usable plan for both real and test events.

The BCP planning process includes the following phases:

  • Organizational Planning Guidelines where critical systems and services are identified
  • The Business Impact Analysis
  • Contingency Plans and redundancies identified in the BIA process
  • Validation and testing of the plan
  • Communication plan for employees, customers, market, business partners, regulators
  • Appendixes (contacts, individual component recovery checklists, etc.)

The result is a documented BCP with testing calendar to ensure stakeholders that the business is adequately protected from a protracted interruption.

BCPs are only relevant if they reflect the current business and technology. Therefore AdvantageCIO strongly recommend s an annual refresh of the BCP. Multi-year package discounts are available.

Slash through the confusion. Contact us to get started on you planning today.