Technology Consulting Tips for Creating an IT Disaster Recovery Plan

Few businesses would survive without access to information technology. For this reason, every IT consultant and CIO recommends creating a strong IT disaster recovery plan.

To create an IT disaster recovery plan for your business, begin with a list of requisite IT tools that are needed to operate in a skeletal way. You may require access to company databases, on-site computers, email accounts and so forth - an IT consultant can help you determine which resources are essential to your operations. How long are you able to pause business to repair those tools?

Next, set up a phone tree for disaster communication. You'll probably settle on a disaster leader as you create a communication web. Your marketing department can help you decide how to communicate with customers in the case of a disaster.

Generally, IT disaster recovery plans incorporate the following components:

Consistent backups of employee desktops and laptops. Most employees find it handy to save items on their computers' desktops. However, if a disaster strikes, those documents could be permanently lost. Consistently backing up company computer is also wise for other reasons - in case a machine is stolen, hacked or lost, for instance. Basically, backing up your data ensures smooth operations regardless of circumstance.

Good technology defense. An IT consulting firm will often check the health of IT systems by testing for potential failures. By conducting such testing, companies proactively defend themselves against attack. In addition, it's a good idea to install virus protection and firewalls on each computer. Finally, make sure employees immediately say "yes" to system update messages. (Conduct regular trainings on the importance of installing updates, which are patches for known weaknesses in software.)

Offsite storage for backup data. Don't ignore the possibility that your entire office could be destroyed. In case of a total disaster, offsite data storage could save your company. Computers may be replaced; crucial data can't. If your entire office is ruined, access to key data makes continued operation possible. You can take the classic technology consulting approach and store data on tapes. Mobile cloud backup products and disc-to-disc solutions are more cutting-edge data storage methods. However you store your backups, check their functionality before they leave your office.

Once your disaster recovery plan is official, don't forget about it. Think about your disaster plan as a living document that will require regular updating. At the very least, your plan should have a formal review at least once a year. In this time, it's likely that you'll have changed out some major equipment and will need to revise insurance numbers and recovery techniques.

IT Consultants & Disaster Recovery

An IT consultant can be a valuable asset in creating your disaster recovery plan. Here are some of the things a technology consulting firm can help with:

Virtualization. One popular gig for an IT consultant is setting up server virtualization. By allowing a large amount of data to be stored on a single server, virtualization creates large amounts of data storage space at a small cost. Many technology consulting firms also recommend virtualization because it can cut down on hardware costs.

Disaster recovery testing. Recovery testing makes any company more likely to survive a disaster. Technology consulting firms conduct disaster recovery testing to make sure all systems will work as planned in an emergency.

Recovery plan design. IT consulting firm representatives are knowledgeable about the latest developments in IT disaster recovery. They can recommend the best backup methods for your organization.

Source: http://commonwealthwatch.blogspot.com/2012/09/technology-consulting-tips-for-creating.html

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