How to write an IT DR plan

How to write an
IT Disaster Recovery plan

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DISCLAIMER
These are universal
principles, but every
plan is unique

IT DR PLAN VS
BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN
Policy
Management
IT
Infrastructure
BCP
IT Disaster Recovery

IT DR PLAN VS
BUSINSESS CONTINUITY PLAN
Business Continuity
Planning
IT Disaster
Recovery
Business Continuity
Planning
IT Disaster
Recovery

HOW TO WRITE AN IT DR PLAN
Select the teams and determine responsibility
• Risk register and Matrix1. Risk identification
• Business Impact Analysis (BIA)2. Assess vulnerability to those risks
• Business Impact Analysis (BIA)3. Determine impact on the business
• Service catalogues and technology dependency mapping
4. Identify critical business functions / IT
services
• Putting the capability in place
5. Design & implement mitigation
strategies
• Writing the runbook6. Agree activation plans
• Agree testing, documentation and KPIs7. Testing
• Keeping the DR plan up to date8. Ongoing changes and maintenance

SELECTING THE TEAM

1. RISK IDENTIFICATION
2. ASSESS VULNERABILITY
3. DETERMINE IMPACT
Risk assessment & Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

4. IDENTIFY CRITICAL BUSINESS
FUNCTIONS & IT SERVICES
• Think services not IT assets
Defining your recovery objectives

5. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT
MITIGATION STRATEGIES
• People
• Facilities
• Suppliers
• Replication and backup
Think beyond technology

6. AGREE ACTIVATION PLANS
Writing the runbook

• To fail over, or not to fail over?
• When should you ‘invoke’ or
move from Incident Response
Team to Crisis Management
Team?
Writing the runbook

Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Name
(contact number)
Communication - call-trees, contact card, mass
notifications

• Make these plans specific enough that they can be followed but
general enough to cover different incidents
Example incidents:
• IT failure
• Power failure
• Cyber incident
Plan for the incidents you have identified

7. TESTING
• IT failure
– SAN failure
• Power failure
– Kingsway fire
• Cyber incident
– You’ve been hacked
Example disasters

7. TESTING
Have you tested?
Was it successful?
Did it meet your recovery objectives?
KPIs and Metrics

8. ONGOING CHANGES & MAINTENANCE

IF YOU REMEMBER NOTHING ELSE!
1. Know who is responsible and in charge
2. Have a plan of how to communicate (staff, customers and suppliers)
3. Write the plan (or update the plan)

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RESOURCES
• Business Continuity Institute
– http://www.thebci.org/
• World Economic Forum Global
Risk Report
– http://www.weforum.org/reports
/global-risks-report-2015
• London Risk Register
– http://www.london.gov.uk/mayo
r-assembly/mayor/london-
resilience/risks
• Cross-sector Safety and Security
Communication
– http://www.vocal.co.uk/cssc/
• Environment Agency – flood warnings
– http://apps.environment-
agency.gov.uk/flood/31618.aspx
• Business continuity management
systems -- Guidelines for business
impact analysis (BIA)
– http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_de
tail.htm?csnumber=50054

How to write an IT DR plan

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