DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING FOR CLIENT/SERVER SYSTEMS
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1 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: STRATEGY, SYSTEMS, AND TECHNOLOGIES DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING FOR CLIENT/SERVER SYSTEMS Leo A. Wrobel PROBLEMS ADDRESSED It is no secret that modes of operation in the IT field have changed drastically over the last 10 years. Client/server computing has overtaken mainframes, especially in revenue-producing applications such as call centers. Processing has become more distributed, with concentrations of power in the hands of users who are often nontechnical professionals. These users represent a new breed they are close to the business and free of the glass-house mentality of traditional computing environments. Businesses operate without storefronts, selling products by telephone and automated platforms. Bountiful and seamless customer connectivity solutions bring the business closer to the caller and make it easy for the customer to partake of a company s services. Nationwide local calling scopes afforded by 800 and 888 numbers bring customers even closer. It is clear that business has changed. But has business resumption planning changed as well to take these new complex and revenue-generating systems into account? What new areas of exposure manifest themselves when not only the technical platforms that support business change, but the conduct of business itself changes profoundly? Obviously, some client/server systems are not revenue generating just as some mainframe-based systems are. The point, however, is that a disruption can sometimes be made even worse by concentrating on the wrong areas. In the case of revenueproducing client/server systems, a downed system is a broken cash register. For these reasons, IS managers should ask the following questions about their organization s disaster recovery plan: PAYOFF IDEA The development of complex, customer-focused, and revenue-generating client/server systems requires an advanced business recovery perspective that spans the entire organization. Many organizations, however, overlook vital areas of exposure. These areas are discussed and tips on plan development are provided to help IS managers begin the process of writing an effective client/server recovery plan. 10/97 Auerbach Publications 1997 CRC Press LLC
2 Does the plan meet users needs? What is my organization s core business? Are technical recovery solutions based on a prior ranking of the importance of core business functions? If the answers to these questions do not immediately come to mind, the plan may be seriously out of date. Recovery plans of the 1990s demand an advanced business recovery perspective that spans the entire organization. As in any other technical area, business resumption planning in the client/server arena does not have a cookie-cutter solution. There are, however, some common and potentially devastating errors made by a broad cross-section of organizations. The following sections discuss 10 of these areas of exposure followed by tips for developing an effective disaster recovery plan. LACK OF A PLAN Most companies, regardless of their size, have elaborate mainframe disaster recovery plans, sometimes decades old, and ignore or insufficiently treat the critical local area network (LAN) component. An organization that has a disaster recovery plan for its mainframe but none for its client/server systems is headed for trouble. Think about everything that resides on the mainframe (e.g., payroll, accounts payable): all the operations that management has heretofore been too skittish to move to what were thought of as unproven client/server systems. What resides on the LAN? Usually, everything that relates to the core business and brings money into the company: customer support, sales, marketing, and callcenter support systems. Unless the core business is mainframe-based, why restore the mainframe? In the event of a disaster, an organization that has a plan for its mainframe but none for its LAN finds itself able to restore batch-oriented financial applications that happen to correlate with everything that gets money out of the company but completely unable to bring money into the company. In a nutshell, this can be worse than having no plan at all. LACK OF VOICE COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT In addition to LANs, the voice communications (i.e., inbound telephone numbers) that make the client/server system a revenue generator must be considered. Many businesses no longer have a storefront at all, and take most (if not all) orders over the phone. The most ironic part of this exposure is that it is almost totally avoidable. The local and long-distance telephone companies have already done the capital-intensive part by providing such services as remote call forwarding, command routing, and foreign exchange service. These services ensure that critical telephone numbers those indispensable to the core businesses will both
3 work and not change after a disaster. Managers should find out which numbers are most critical to the company (those with the most direct bearing on revenue) and take precautions to protect them now. Just as was the case in 1980 regarding mainframe recovery, few companies today realize how dependent they have become on telecommunications for their well-being. Over the last 16 years, most of the more than 250 activations of commercial computer disaster recovery centers have been directly or indirectly related to loss of telecommunications, not mainframes. In other words, companies have been activating expensive computer recovery centers simply to use the phones. OVERLOOKING CLIENT/SERVER INTERCONNECTION (DATA COMMUNICATIONS) The seamless integration of disparate operations into one synergistic entity is probably the single most important reason for migrating to a client/server architecture. By interconnecting departments, the organization shrinks in size and complexity and everyone has access to everyone else s data. This lets employees get the information they need to answer customer inquiries in real-time and increase sales. Exhibit 1 depicts such a seamless solution, which, like any effective process, begins and ends with the customer. Starting on the left-hand side of the exhibit, a customer dials in, probably on an incoming 800 number, to a customer service center. The business has no storefront, so voice communication services make the system a revenue generator. Assuming that this is a heavy manufacturing company that builds after-market starter and alternator motors for cars. While on the line with EXHIBIT 1 Seamless Client/Server Integration Sales Production Shipping & Receiving Customer Service Engineering Accounting Post-Sales Feedback Customer Customer Reprinted with permission from Writing Disaster Recovery Plans for Telecommunications Networks and LANS, by Leo A. Wrobel, (c) 1993 Artech House Books, Norwood, MA.
4 the caller, the customer service representative makes an inquiry through data communications to the LAN in sales to find out if similar sales for these types of automotive applications have recently been made. Perhaps the representative adds someone in sales to the call. Sales, or customer service, in turn, inquire through the engineering department LAN, illustrated by the third circle, whether it is feasible to adapt an existing product. Customer service, sales, and engineering may make an inquiry to the production people to learn how long it might take, for example, to adapt to this product. By having fast access to information, the customer service center responds quickly, efficiently, and accurately to a customer s inquiry while the customer is on the phone and eager to buy. This greatly changes disaster recovery planning. When examining the exhibit, most people would say the customer service function is the most important in the process, in terms of profitability. This is probably correct, because the walk-in market for commercial distributors selling auto parts is small. Most, if not all, of this company s business is conducted by phone and is totally dependent on automated systems. Therefore, for technologists, the job becomes one of looking at what technical platforms support the customer service center and making these as fault-tolerant and resilient as possible. Equally important, however, is the restoration of the data communications services that interconnect LANs and turn them into revenue generators for the company. FAILURE TO DUPLICATE ATTENDANT POSITIONS AND ACQUIRE SPARE WORKSTATIONS Where do all the people go if the building is inaccessible? So far, this business recovery evaluation has considered two of what is commonly referred to as the Big Three. The first is LANs, or some type of access to data. Second is telecommunications, both voice and data, which turns this data into a revenue generator. Now, a place to put the people is needed. Although most cities have at least a modest supply of office space, hotel space, or basement space for lease at any given time, it is best to prearrange where employees would be placed after a disaster, and how the logistics of moving nontechnical persons to a whole new location would be handled. A company leasing agent could be assigned this responsibility. DEPENDENCE ON ONE PERSON Every company has lone rangers, especially when it comes to LANs. These gurus generally tell everyone just enough to operate the system, but keep the really meaty stuff close to the vest (after all, that s job security, right?). The problem occurs if this person becomes unavailable
5 either through a disaster, a vacation in a remote area, or is simply hired away. Conducting a disaster recovery test without this person is a good way to see if a company is too dependent on him or her. Cross-training technical staff is an effective way of reducing the risk overdependence brings. LACK OF ADEQUATE DOCUMENTATION It is important to determine what to document regarding operational instructions, custom software, and the like. The scope of documentation must also be considered (i.e., whether to document everything, just applications intended for the general network population, or only missioncritical applications). The correct level of documentation for the particular organization should be determined and then actions taken to write it. If a LAN manager leaves a company, the organization may have to consider whether or not he or she should be rehired as a $200 an hour consultant to troubleshoot all that home-grown code. LACK OF CLIENT/SERVER AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS Standards are documented for two reasons. The first is to prevent disasters from happening in the first place (hence the procedures for how often passwords are changed and backups are performed, how data is stored off-site, and what kind of fire protection is needed). The second is to ensure the graceful execution of recovery procedures by making the changes necessary in the operating environment. For example, if a recovery plan stipulates calling everyone back to work, the assumption is made that an accurate list of home telephone numbers resides somewhere. A standard is written in this case to ensure that it does. Standards directly affect 50% or better of a final recovery plan, yet many organizations have none. LACK OF RECOVERY PLAN UPDATES How often do you update a recovery plan? To put it another way, how many organizations have the same LAN configuration they had six months ago? Three months ago? Yesterday? Under the seamless solution scenario described earlier, critical data (e.g., equipment inventories, personnel telephone numbers, and vendor telephone numbers) can be imported from reliable sources in the organization. Object-linking data bases residing throughout the organization to the recovery plan is great when feasible, because when the data in the organization changes, so does the recovery plan, automatically (see Exhibit 2).
6 EXHIBIT 2 Importing Critical Data Employee Inventory & Numbers Equipment Inventory Software Inventory Cellular Phone Numbers Vendor Lists LAN Network Services Recovery Procedures Carrier Lists LACK OF INTERDEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION Who owns the building? The data center manager thinks she does. The telecommunications manager thinks he does. The guy at the front door in the blue suit and badge thinks he does. If there is a fire, the fire department thinks it does. And who rewires the building in the event of a disaster? Facilities? Telecommunications? LANs? Mainframe? An outside electrician or contractor? To avoid turf problems and delays in activating a plan, these issues must be defined in advance. ABSENCE OF FOCUS ON THE REVENUE-PRODUCING END-USER The majority of existing technical service recovery plans were written without involving end users (those actually selling, engineering, building or marketing the company s services) in the determination of priorities. Consider the example from Exhibit 1. What if the director of technical services failed to document a plan for the critical customer service/inbound call center, opting instead to concentrate on an obscure administrative department simply because that department screamed loudest when the system was down? Although this repeatedly occurs, it is not always the technologists fault. They are up to their elbows in operational issues and have little time to self-actualize about disaster recovery planning.
7 DEVELOPING A PLAN The following five tips are designed to help busy managers ensure the development of an effective client/server recovery plan. Understand What You Are Protecting This phase answers the question, What needs to be protected and why? It involves a preliminary identification of critical business systems through a study that quantifies a company s dependence on the network. The issue for consideration is what the business would lose if it lost the LAN or telephone service for an extended period in terms of: Sales/direct revenue Market share Customer confidence Productivity (idle employees) Legal liability issues Consultants or outside resources can be helpful in conducting the study. Reduce the Learning Curve It may be necessary to bring IT people up to speed in recovery planning methodologies. This can be accomplished through classes and seminars, or by bringing in a consultant. It is also wise to establish liaisons with people in the organization who have experience in recovery planning matters. For example, building security and facility management personnel may already have written disaster recovery procedures for the physical structure. If so, the plan should be based on what they have started. Such collaboration also builds ownership in the plan and helps ensure its acceptance. As a minimum, a meeting place should be designated so that the employees can assemble if a disaster renders the primary business location unusable. This might be another branch location, a residence, a hotel, or other location. The key is first to define the location in advance and then ensure it has adequate telephone service for coordination of the recovery process. This alternate location is the organization s emergency command center for recovery operations. The telephone company should be asked to assign numbers in advance and publish these internally to avoid breakdowns in communication when and if the time comes to put them into use. During this phase, the company remains exposed to many types of disasters. Risks to companies include internal threats to resident equipment from fire, flood, and sabotage. They also include exposure from equally devastating outside sources, such as disasters involving telephone
8 companies. In other words, someone else s disaster could prove to be the undoing of other companies. Outside vendors, such as long-distance and local telephone companies, can help an organization take initial steps to minimize its risk by offering the services outlined in the following section. Cost-Effective Solutions Because most people have to take a guerrilla warfare mentality regarding contingency planning, they should look for inexpensive steps that simplify command and control the most important part of the plan should it ever have to be implemented. These include the following: Remote call forwarding. The telephone company can reroute telephone numbers to an alternate location within minutes, maintaining critical command and control. CENTREX. Because the switching equipment for CENTREX resides at the telephone company and not on site, a company is protected from everything from power failures to total loss of a private branch exchange (PBX). Some companies give every supervisor a CENTREX line, and every line worker a PBX line. In this way, they are protected if they lose either one. Foreign exchange and foreign central office service. Otherwise known as FX and FCO service, these services are available virtually everywhere. Because they draw their dial tone from a central office other than the one to which a company is normally assigned, they provide protection from items such as switch software failures in your primary central office. Conference calling. Conference calls help build innovative schemes that aid in command, coordination, and control of recovery activities after a disaster. Cellular telephones. Cellular telephones are another indispensable means of command and control after a disaster. It is important to be aware, however, that in a widespread area, competition for cellular circuits could occur. Paging services. Pagers, two-way radios, and other wireless services are invaluable, particularly in situations where telephone service for a geographic area is affected, or just to find key recovery personnel. Two-way radio. Two-way radio assists in on-site coordination, particularly if the phones are out. Performing a Client/Server Vulnerability Analysis It does not cost anything to take a walk through a business location and assess the following areas:
9 Physical security. Physical security begins with basic questions. Are all equipment closets locked and accessible to authorized personnel only? Are custodial supplies stored inside the closet with the PBX? Environment. Does the LAN employ a backup power supply? In the case of the PBX, is there a power-failure cutover to emergency phones in case of a blackout? How about the temperature in the equipment room? Does it get overly hot or cold for the equipment? How about weekends? Is air conditioning or heating shut off for extended periods? Are solvents or corrosive cleaning supplies stored adjacent to the LAN server or PBX? How is flammable material managed? Is eating or drinking in the equipment room prohibited? Fire protection. Are there fire extinguishers in the equipment room? Are employees trained in their use? Are emergency numbers posted prominently? Are smoke alarms present? Are combustibles properly managed or kept out of the room entirely? Do waste containers have fireproof lids? Is smoking prohibited? Water. Is there water (including sprinklers and other sources) over the LAN or PBX equipment? Are there other water pipes in the equipment room? Are these clearly labeled for shut-off in case of a leak? Are water pipes located where they could freeze and burst in cold weather? Broaden the Team s Skill Sets Because operations personnel are swamped, the best bet is to broaden the skill sets of the people involved in production of the plan. There is no reason why a marketing manager, sales person, or engineer cannot help document the plan. The following example shows how incorporating a wider set of skills develops a stronger plan in the long run. Involving Non-IS Personnel. A technologist is reviewing her recovery plan and realizes that in the event of a disaster, her direct reports (lowlevel and entry-level technologists) often express a need for money (a common problem). Apparently, most do not carry credit cards, and unless the disaster happened the day after payday, they would not have money to buy gas to get to the recovery center. Because there are dozens of people in this situation, the technologist decides that the answer is to tap her company s bank. She will ask for a mobile bank to be on site within two hours of a disaster to dispense and account for cash to employees involved in the disaster. How does she go about this? The first day she spends part of the day learning who the company s banker is. The next day she learns the specifics of the company s credit lines. The following day she trades voice mail with everyone she thinks has signing authority for such an agreement. The next week she visits the bank, meets the company s banking
10 officer, and organizes a joint meeting with her supervisors. In two weeks, when executive schedules are finally coordinated, the meeting takes place and an agreement is reached. Total time elapsed: four weeks. Total time expended: 38 hours. Suppose for the sake of argument, someone in the finance department had been a member of the recovery planning team. This person would have taken on the mobile bank project as one action item in production of the plan. He or she would instinctively have known that the company s close relationship with its account team at the bank means that everything can be accomplished with a single phone call to the account manager. The agreement would have arrived by fax the following morning. Total days expended: one. Total time expended: 15 minutes. This is just one example of why it pays to broaden the skills set of the planning team. Other areas in which this practice is helpful include security, medical, legal, engineering, public relations, transportation, and training. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION The information provided in this article is designed to help an organization begin the process of client/server disaster planning. The Six Rs that follow can be used as a guide to help sort out the necessary activities that need to be put in writing. Recognition. A night security guard sees water coming from under the door of an equipment room. Whom does he notify? How does he notify them? Who notifies the custodian of any electronic equipment in the room such as the PBX, LAN server, or other component. Does the security department have such a procedure? Response. What do the various technical custodians do when they arrive on site? Among other things, they need to summon an on-site vendor representative immediately and make a report to their supervisor as to whether it will be necessary to activate a recovery plan. Recovery. The actual process of recovery (i.e., getting back in business as soon as possible) should be documented so that it can still occur even if key technical persons are on vacation, injured, or otherwise unavailable. This can be difficult in small- and medium-sized organizations. Restoral. Restoral means resumption of business, not necessarily replacement of the equipment. Return to Normal. At some point when the emergency is over, it will be time to tear down any emergency modes of operation and go back to
11 business as usual. It is never wise to risk a double disaster by going back too soon. Rest and Relax. After any response, staff are tired and overtaxed. Schedule a party and reward a job well done. Leo A. Wrobel is president and CEO of Dallas-based Premiere Network Services, Inc. He holds degrees in telecommunications systems technology, electronic systems technology, and business and public policy. An active author, international lecturer, and technical futurist, he has published nine books and dozens of trade articles on a variety of technical subjects. His nearly two decades of experience includes assignments at AT&T, a major mortgage banking company, and a host of other firms engaged in banking, brokerage, heavy manufacturing, telecommunications services, and government; he also designed and secured regulatory approval of a LATA-wide OC- 12/ATM network for a $10 billion manufacturing giant, the first of its kind anywhere. A three-term city councilman and recently elected mayor, Mr. Wrobel can be reached at his company s Web site ( or by calling (972)
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