Dealing with Disaster Arden NC

Before embarking on a continuity and recovery program, it is important to know that even though the terms "Disaster Recovery" and "Continuity of Operations" are often used interchangeably, there are some key differences.

Local Companies

Pennywise Associates
(828) 684-9786
22 Twin Brooks Rd
Arden, NC
National Technologies Associates Inc
(252) 444-5411
302 E Main St
Havelock, NC
Medical Device Consultants Inc
(919) 859-4207
2129 Beneventum Ct
Raleigh, NC
Grinnell Leadership Inc
(910) 458-8555
Carolina Beach, NC
Hughes Management Services & Consulting Company
(252) 261-1794
Kitty Hawk, NC
Modern Management Inc
(704) 365-8087
Charlotte, NC
Apple Tree Academies
(336) 903-4971
3774 Boone Trl
Millers Creek, NC
Main Street
(910) 353-9300
114 Center St
Jacksonville, NC
Lumpkin & Assoc
(704) 894-9403
807 Concord Rd
Davidson, NC
Raleigh Consulting Group Inc
(919) 781-1288
4821 Rembert Dr
Raleigh, NC



By Stacey McDaniel

Before embarking on a continuity and recovery program, it is important to know that even though the terms "Disaster Recovery" and "Continuity of Operations" are often used interchangeably, there are some key differences:

  • Disaster Recovery is the process of developing advance plans and procedures that enable an organization to respond to a disruptive event and restore the information technology infrastructure supporting critical business functions.
  • Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) is the process of creating procedures that enable an organization to respond to an event in such a manner that critical business functions continue with planned levels of interruption or essential change. COOP is concerned with more than just IT -- it also includes the people, processes and technology necessary to maintain critical operations.

It is also important to take into account all of the things your agency depends upon to operate and identify what is most crucial.

  • Recovery Requirements identify the tools needed to support the agency's essential functions in the event of a disaster.
  • Recovery Time Objective is the amount of downtime an agency can sustain before irreparable harm is done.
  • Recovery Point Objective identifies the amount of data that an agency can afford to lose.

Identify the risks at hand
For many agencies, finding ways to maintain continuity in an increasingly risky and costly IT environment is a continuing challenge. It helps to understand all of the unique operational and business risks that you face. Consider the following:

  • Security Risk: Is your agency a popular target? Does it have significant amounts of valuable data? This increases the chances that you might be a target for computer crimes, IT breaches or cyberterrorism.
  • Availability Risk: Does your IT undergo a lot of configuration changes? Does it lack redundancy in IT operations?
  • Performance Risk: Does your agency experience seasonal peaks and valleys? For example, the IRS faces a peak around April and it should allot resources accordingly. One way to address your peaks and valleys is to employ resources usually reserved for backup in times of need.
  • Scalability Risk: Have you experienced recent growth? Is your agency built upon siloed architectures?
  • Recovery Risk: How do you address the constant possibility of hardware and/or software failure, external threats and natural disasters?
  • Compliance Risk: What regulations and requirements are you subject to? Do you keep careful documentation and track policy compliance?

Addressing risk
After you have identified your agency's recovery objectives and areas of greatest risk, you can map out a plan to protect and recover your most mission-critical assets. When planning for disaster, there are three areas to focus on:

  • Prevention: Enlist solutions that identify and then proactively block vulnerabilities, send early warnings and assure the availability of application, data and systems.
  • Remediation: Find a solution that identifies systems that need to be patched, points of attack, application failures and data loss.
  • Recovery: A system recovery solution will speed up the process and get you back on track faster. You will need to create detailed reports on attacks and outages and update security policies accordingly.

Stacey McDaniel has been writing about high-tech issues for more than six years.


Rss   Delicious   Digg   Add To My Yahoo   Add To My Google   Bookmark   Search Plugin

Topics:
Advertising Family Home Services Real Estate Resources
Business Services Fashion Industrial Goods & Services Retail & Consumer Services
Career Financial Services Insurance Software
Cars Food & Beverage Internet Technology
Computer Hardware Franchise Legal Telecommunications
Construction Health Miscellaneous Trade Shows
Education Holidays Nightlife Travel
Entertainment Home Appliances Online Database Weddings
Environmental Home Electronics Pets World History