Important Things to Consider When Assembling a Data Recovery Plan

Data loss can occur as a result of many different kinds of circumstances that range from accidental deletion of files to security breaches by criminals with malicious intent and natural disasters. This is why it is important to plan a strategy for the recovery of data within an organization in the event of data loss. Planning ahead prevents unscheduled downtimes, as well as having to take cost prohibitive measures to try and recover the data to get the organization up and running again.

Here are some things to consider when assembling an effective data recovery plan.

Identify the Needs of the Organization

Consider what the data recovery needs are for the organization and what it would take to continue the business after data loss has occurred. Assessing the needs of the organization is a critical component to designing a data recovery plan that is appropriate.

Develop a Multi-Level Recovery Strategy

Create an assessment of the possible risks of losing data and how critical the data is at certain levels of your organization. Based on this information, develop a multi- level strategy that ensures all levels of your data infrastructure will be recovered in the event of data loss.

Create a Plan That Makes It Easy to Recover Data

Although there are different backup sites at different levels of cost, assess the data that is critical and then develop a plan that will recover the data within a reasonable amount of time. For example, tape backup recovery can take significantly longer than online data backup. The best way to determine an appropriate plan is to decide how much downtime the organization can afford before the impact of data loss hinders business operations.

Assess Network Recovery

In addition to data backup and recovery you also have to consider a plan for recovering the network infrastructure in the event of a disaster. The network is just as vital to business operations as the data infrastructure.

For network recovery you may want to consider hosting your network with a service provider. By hosting your network with a service provider, you will have a solution for recovery that is designed and managed by the service provider which will make the network accessible even if the network fails onsite.

Understand the Risks

Understanding the risks that can cause data loss will help you to better understand how to assemble a data recovery plan that addresses the risks associated with data loss. The risks should be weighed against the individual needs of the organization to design a plan of action that is well suited to the operations of the company.

(0 Comments)