Business continuity and disaster recovery plansPosted by Winnie Melda on February 15th, 2019 Abstract There has been a wrong interpretation going round that business continuity plan an invention for industries and organizations that are operating with the aim of making a profit. Studies have shown that organizations that are not primarily running with the aim of making profit are including the strategy into their plans. This particular research paper aims at evaluating and examining how organizations and major establishments can integrate business continuity plan into their operations for information security. The research paper calls for the need for business continuity in all the organizations and also describes the framework through which business continuity plan can get implemented. Business continuity and disaster recovery planning Introduction No organization has a limitation to natural disasters and other possible business interruptions. Business continuity offers guidelines through which critical organizational operations get safeguarded when there is the occurrence of interruptions such as natural disasters, technology failures and threats, human errors, and terrorism. Additionally, it caters for minor interruptions such planned or unplanned maintenance occurrences. Development of a business continuity plan enables organizations to reduce potential losses in case of interruptions of business processes. The resultant experiences obtained from disaster recovery and business continuity planning have given rise to several methodologies through which business continuity plans can get prepared. One of the primary requirements through which business plans can get built is consideration of all potential risks an organization is likely to face in the future. The second requirement is a wide risk management plan to ensure all threats an organization is likely to face are acknowledged and accessed (Hiles, 2010) Business continuity planning Business continuity planning is the manner in which a business establishment prepares for a disaster and aid in its recovery. The arrangement gets agreed upon by the management and other key persons in the organization on the steps that an organization needs in case it suffers from an unforeseen disaster. However, the program is a preparation for several problems in the future. The planning contains detailed steps whose outlines guide the organizations on how to recover from interruptions arising from a disaster. Business continuity planning serves as a guide of how an organization will protect itself from future disasters that are a risk to its long-term stability. The planning caters for all categories of disasters such as national, regional, and local level disasters. Business planning should always evolve depending on the trend of the disasters. It should be comprehensive and detailed thereby covering disasters such as computer viruses to terrorist attacks. The main aim of business continuity planning is to help speeds the recovery of organization functions after the catastrophe. Benefits of business continuity planning There are several benefits associated with developing a business continuity planning. Business continuity planning safeguards both organization facility and the employees. Unforeseen events can lead to severe disruption of business operations and its effectiveness. Such events come in all shapes and sizes and vary from the common to unexpected calamities. A planning will enable an organization that suffers such blow to rise and start off. It will ensure that the organization will maintain continuity of critical business operations and limit the effect the disaster could have caused. An organization that has an effective and efficient business continuity planning may receive favorable terms from insurance companies. It will arise when a disaster has occurred, and such an organization needs the services of an insurance company. Although the purpose of a business continuity plan is to prepare for an unforeseen disaster, it helps an organization to evaluate its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The discovery of such important business requirements enables an organization to strategize on its direction. Disaster recovery Disaster recovery is the process of organizational recovery from a catastrophe. The organization can gain its software, hardware, and data that are necessary for business operations resumption. It also recovers vital business functions after natural or human-born disasters. Besides recovery of hardware, software, and data it recovers the manpower that is critical to organizations. An earthquake might have an effect on data storage where an illness might affect the staff. Both calamities should get into consideration when developing a disaster recovery plan. Therefore, an organization should have a clause in their plan of the ways through which they will deal with unexpected loss of key personnel Disaster recovery planning does not exist alone. It is a part of a comprehensive business continuity planning. It is worth noting that recovery plans need thorough practice to familiarize key players with their roles in case of a disaster. The plans should also evolve and updated regularly. Business continuity and disaster recovery planning The unpredictability nature of disasters means that they can occur randomly. It is stressing, costly, and time-consuming to recover from a disaster particular for those who have not planned for it. However, those who have planned well in advance are well positioned for survival with minimal loss and interruptions. Calamities come in various distinct shapes. They also differ in the magnitude of their damages. Small disasters are not worried to organizations since their disruptions are short term. However, recovery from a disaster such as a flood may take much time, especially if the organization has not prepared for it. (Snadeker, 2007) Steps of plan development The major aim of a disaster recovery plan is offer direction of how an organization deals with unforeseen disasters. Every organization should incorporate disaster necessary disaster recovery plan as part of business management. Well constructed and implemented steps will give an organization an edge in the minimizing impact of a disaster and resume with critical business operations quickly. The steps that should get followed are (Fulmer, 2004) Step I: Collection of data
Step II: Developing and testing of the plan
Step III: Monitoring and maintenance
Conclusion The challenges associated with the development of a business continuity plan are numerous. Different organizations have different needs, and so one organization’s plan cannot cater for another organization’s needs. Using a plan that is not suitable for one’s organization may result in another human-induced disaster. Therefore, organizations must consider all their components if they want to maximize their recovery. References Fulmer, K. L. (2004). Business Continuity Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide with Planning Forms. Brookfield: Rothstein Publishing Inc. Hiles, A. (2010). The Definitive Handbook of Business Continuity Management. West Sussex: Wiley Publishers. Snadeker, S. (2007). Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning for IT Professionals. Oxford: Butterworth Heinmann Publishers. Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in graduate paper writing service if you need a similar paper you can place your order from custom research paper writing service. Like it? Share it! More by this author |