Developing a Cloud Disaster Recovery Plan in 10 Steps

Posted by riverrmerlin on October 27th, 2016

Developing a cloud disaster recovery plan is something every organization should seriously consider. Data integrity is upheld by a functional cloud disaster recovery plan. This instills security and preventive measures are intact in the event of any disaster. There are many risks that are associated with fluctuating service, but regardless of how much they can be, businesses are protected from these risks.

Businesses should not postpone having a cloud disaster recovery plan; it is an excellent tool every business must have. Getting one shouldn’t be a problem, below are ten steps towards developing a Disaster Recovery Plan.

Top Management Involvement

To ensure the success of any cloud disaster recovery plan, the top management must undertake the central responsibility. The management should be at the forefront of coordinating the plan and ensuring its efficiency. The top management should also be responsible for assigning adequate resources and time required in developing the plan.

Establish a Planning Committee

To supervise the development and manage the implementation of the plan, a planning committee is required. A committee should be appointed to define the scope and direction of the plan clearly.

Participating in this committee should include representatives from the various functional department of the organization with the key members being data process and operations manager.

Perform Risk Assessment

This is exactly where the planning committee comes in. An analysis of the risk and business impact should be conducted; it should include an assessment of every condition experienced even in the worst-case scenario.

The assessment is to include the evaluation of the safety of vital record and documents. The related cost it will take to for the potential exposures to be minimized should be included in the report.

Establish Operations Priorities

This is important because it reveals where resources should be allocated first; as no organization is known to possess infinite resource. These priorities are important after the essential needs of an organization's departments are provided.

Determine Desired Recovery Strategy

This is the phase that involves strategies and procedures that are to be executed in the event of a disaster. The plan should be researched and evaluated - in the highest practical way. 
An effective plan can be arrived at with thorough review and all aspects of the organization should be considered in this plan - physical facilities, databases and data files, user operations to end user system and all functional processing operations can all be reviewed for inclusion in this plan.

Data Collection

This phase is where all data materials are gathered and documented. Depending on the organization these includes inventories, distribution register, data and software files backup schedules and so on. There are preformatted forms that are often used for the facilitation of this data gathering process.

Document an Organized Written Plan

An organized written plan is mandatory. The plan's content should be outlined to guide the development of the procedures. This is to provide a roadmap for the development of the procedures in detail. It probably goes to the top management for approval after which a detailed procedure is developed. This documentation should also make provision for future updates and maintenance. 

Develop Criteria for Testing

It is always for important that every Disaster Recovery Plans should be thoroughly evaluated and tested. These tests provide assurance of the plan to the organization and guarantee theefficacy of the plan. It reveals how feasible and compatible the backup procedures and facilities are. 

Test the Plan

Testing the plan is vital. It includes an initial test-run of the Disaster Recovery plans. Vulnerabilities are exposed during this stage. The entire system can be evaluated and information is gathered about the performance during this test. If lapses are discovered, the system can be tweaked and they can fixed as required to obtain excellent result.

Obtain Approval

This is where the top management team again comes into play. The Disaster Recovery plan after being written and tested should be submitted for managerial approval.

Businesses can trust these tested and proven strategies to get the benefits of a cloud disaster recovery plan.