The document discusses key elements that should be included in an effective IT disaster recovery plan, such as: 1) Having an off-site cloud backup solution in place in addition to on-site redundancies to address security, convenience, and ease of data recovery. 2) Designating a team of IT and operations employees who are briefed on their roles and responsibilities, with their contact information included in the plan. 3) Including contacts for hardware/software vendors, ISPs, data centers, and others outside the organization who may need to be contacted. 4) Outlining network diagrams and emergency procedures in advance so immediate action can be taken, and regularly testing the plan.

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2. It’s human nature to avoid addressing worst
case scenarios unless you absolutely have to.
But if you’re a business owner, sticking your
head in the sand until something goes wrong is
no longer a viable strategy to adopt. Especially
in today’s technological landscape, where
getting hacked or even a natural disaster can
derail your business operations through
protracted amounts of downtime, in addition to
critical and confidential company data
becoming compromised or worse, lost and
unrecoverable.
The best way to be prepared is to proactively
develop and implement a disaster recovery
strategy before catastrophe strikes. But what
should a good, comprehensive IT disaster
recovery plan nclude?

3. While you may have on-site redundancies in place for your company’s files and
information, it is now considered a necessity to have an off-site cloud backup
solution in place, as well. Not only do cloud solutions address convenience and
security concerns, they also enable ease of data recovery in the event that
something goes wrong.

4. A disaster recovery plan for your organization will only be as effective as the team
you put behind it. That means you should have a team of employees – both IT
and operations-focused – who are briefed and ready in case of an emergency. In
addition to ensuring knowledge and understanding of the plan and their
designated roles by this team, also include and communicate all relevant
emergency contact information of those team members within the plan itself.

5. From hardware and software vendors to ISPs and data centers, your disaster
recovery plan needs to include a thorough list of all necessary contacts outside of
your organization.

6. Outlining network diagrams and procedures for what to do in an emergency
should not happen for the first time when something goes wrong. Instead,
outline standards of procedures and any necessary diagrams in advance, so you
can take immediate action.

7. A disaster recovery plan should not be considered a static document. To that end,
your plan should include scheduled reviews to ensure that everything contained
within the plans itself – from contacts to procedures – are up-to-date and aligned
with your current business objectives.

8. No matter how large or small the scale of your disaster recovery plan, it’s often a
good idea to enlist the assistance of an outsourced IT firm – commonly known as
a managed services provider – to either help develop or do a final review of your
disaster recovery plan. With a managed services provider, you will have their full
team of expertise at your disposal, while you can focus on your more revenue-
generating initiatives.

9. Once you have an IT disaster recovery plan in place, take the time to walk
through test scenarios on a regular basis. It’s because it’s not enough to just have
the plan – you need to confirm with your team that your plan is a viable one.
Moreover, practice makes perfect; so the more you test your strategy ahead of
time, the more prepared you’ll be when something goes wrong.

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Managed Services and Cloud Solutions, contact us
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