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The Difference Between Disaster Recovery Planning and Business Continuity Planning Defined
Disaster
Recovery Planning (DRP) is the process by which you resume business
after a disruptive event. This
typically means that you can get the enterprise computers, networks, and data
base operational. The event might be something huge-like an earthquake or the
terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center-or something small, like
malfunctioning software caused by a computer virus. Given the
human tendency to look on the bright side, many business executives are prone to
ignoring "disaster recovery" because disaster seems an unlikely event. However
Janco has found that over one third of all enterprises have had to activate
their Disaster Plans in the last few years. Business Continuity
Planning (BCP) suggests a more comprehensive approach to making sure you can
keep the enterprise going and meet it business objectives. This goes beyond the
enterprise computers, networks and data bases. However, the two terms are married under
the acronym DR/BC or DRP/BCP. At any rate, Disaster Recovery Planning and/or
Business Continuity Planning facilitate how a company will keep functioning
after a disruptive event until its normal facilities are
restored.
Most data disasters are caused by human error
CIOs should be
aware of the fact that human error is often the main factor responsible for data disasters. Janco
Associates now attribute the increase in human error incidents to complex
storage systems such as multiple RAID systems on the same computer coupled with
older equipment, reduced budgets, lower staffing levels, and poorly trained IT
staff. With advanced storage options such as virtualization and cloud
computing offering corporations storage optimization, human processes are still
conrolling factors as individuals must direct the technology as to how to
operate. The complexity of these systems require a steep learning curve, and
with reported IT spending at a low (down 6.9 percent in 2009 according to some
research firms.), human error is increasingly more common. Typical human caused data disaster are:
H1N1 spurs demand for disaster recovery and business continuity tools
The H1N1 pandemic is pushing
companies to upgrade their secure remote access capabilities in order to enable
more employees to work out of their homes and other remote locations in an
emergency. Vendors of remote access technologies are reporting an
unexpected increase in demand for their products over the past several months as
a result of H1N1-related concerns. "Companies are really looking for is the ability to provide
secure, remote access to more of their employees," said Victor Janulaitis, CEO
Janco Associates, a provider of Disaster Recovery and
Business Continuity Tools. "Most companies have extensive mobile workforces.
What they are doing is planning for an ever increaseing scale," he
said. According to data collected by Janco, much of the increased
interest has come from larger enterprises. These are the enterprises that seem
to be more aware of the need for planning. Security policies and
procedures such as those offered by Janc provide teleworkers with
rules on how to secure access to enterprise applications from any location,
using a broad range of devices. They enable IT administrators to enforce
security and information usage policies.
A network outage is a disaster
A network outage is a business
interuption and a disaster for most enterprise. The disaster recovery
planning process needs to consider this as one of the most likely events to
occur. As businesses rely more heavily on the
internet to transact business and link together branch offices, remote workers,
customers and business partners, the WAN connection becomes more important than
ever. A single pipe may be a company's only link to the outside world. If this
pipe goes down, crucial networking functions come to a crashing halt. Although
most business lines are reliable, outages are not very common. A software
company that has over 25 branch offices, each with a T-1, in several
3rd world locations has frequent outages. About once a month, they have a T-1
outage in one of the offices, lasting from 4 to 20 hours. During that time, that
remote office is effectively cut-off. Without the WAN line, you cannot make
phone calls, get e-mails or do any kind of electronic transaction. They are
unable to communicate with the outside world and effectively dead in the
water.
Business continuity planning for a Pandemic
Larger
corporations typically can continue business as usual even while many employees
are out sick in a Pandemic. However Business
Continuity Planning at small firms rely heavily on key individuals and
find themselves nearly incapacitated if several of those key people get sick,
must stay home with sick children, or are in areas put under quarantine.
At
a minimum, small business owners should update employees' contact information to
include current home phone numbers and addresses, e-mail addresses, and cell
phone numbers. Some employers establish phone trees so they can efficiently
contact all their employees to check on and alert them during an emergency.
Another
vital component to a business continuity plan is to collect contact information,
including cell phone numbers, for their suppliers, vendors, and key customers.
Keep this information in print and online, and store copies off-site in case you
can't get into your office. A
host of legal and medical questions may arise for small business owners if swine
flu roars back with a vengeance this fall. Imagine
you run a small business like a day-care center, where vulnerable children
congregate and colds and flu are prevalent. Do you close and send your entire
staff and all children home at the first sign of any flu? Do you send home only
sick children and sick staff? When? When do you reopen or allow them to return?
What information and medical clearance would you need to send staff or children
home, allow them to return, close, or reopen the center? These are not easy
questions. Janco
recommends that companies prepare for operational disruptions by doing employee
cross training or lining up backup staff now. Employers should review and
enhance existing emergency disaster plans to ensure business continuity.
Employers that are just getting started should develop a plan that includes
pandemic preparedness, and review it and conduct drills regularly. A checklist
for flu policy is posted at the government's flu awareness Web site. Aside
from preparing and practicing for pandemic, small business owners may want to
check with their attorneys for advice on unusual situations -- What do you do
with employees who are medically vulnerable to the flu or those with young
children or elderly relatives at home? Do you send them home? When and for how
long? With pay? The
federal Family Medical Leave Act provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks
of unpaid leave to care for themselves or sick family members. Generally, FMLA
regulations do not cover flu absences unless complications arise, but courts
recently have interpreted the FMLA to mandate leave for the flu and other viral
infections. However,
the federal law does not cover firms with fewer than 50 employees. Small
employers usually do not have to provide sick leave, so it is a surprise to many
employees that they are not entitled to any sick leave, much less any paid sick
leave. Another
question for your human resources manager and/or attorney is what communications
responsibility you have as a business owner if one of your employees is
diagnosed with swine flu. There are health confidentiality and privacy issues
for employees, so employers should not disclose personal health information. But
employers do not want a modern day Typhoid Mary spreading swine flu at work. If
there is an employee with confirmed swine flu, some employers are alerting
employees that there may be swine flu exposure at work without identifying the
involved employee. You
might need to think about giving an infected person's immediate co-workers
enhanced sick leave to protect themselves or family members, particularly if
they have particular medical vulnerability to the illness, he says. Some
employers bring in cleaning crews to disinfect an office where swine flu has
been found. Providing hand disinfectant for employees is not a bad
idea.
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