DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING CHECKLIST

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1 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING CHECKLIST

2 Disaster can strike at any time, which is why your organization needs to have a complete disaster response plan in place today. While major disasters like Hurricane Sandy, the Joplin Tornado and the Oso Mudslide garner headlines, natural disasters are far more common than most people realize. Since 2010, the United States has averaged more than 66 federally declared disasters per year. That s a major US natural disaster every 5.5 days. It s not a question of if your organization will be struck by a disaster, but when. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a complete website with instructions on Disaster Readiness Planning for Businesses, which can help you formulate a viable disaster plan. In honor of National PrepareAthon Day which is slated for April 30th, Datto compiled a summary Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning Checklist to help you ensure your disaster plan will actually protect your employees, facilities and and of course your critical business data. This checklist is color-coded for five critical areas of your organization. u Green items indicate tasks for members of your Communications/Public Relations staff u Blue items indicate tasks for members of your Human Resources staff u Gray items indicate tasks for members of your Facilities staff u Tan items indicate tasks for members of your Information Technology staff u Orange items indicate tasks for members of your Operations staff u Dark Blue items indicate tasks for members of your Entire Disaster Response staff 2 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING CHECKLIST SHARE THIS EBOOK

3 u Do you have a Disaster Response Team u That includes a Communications/Public Relations representative u That includes a Human Resources representative u That includes a Facilities representative u That includes an Information Technology representative u That includes an Operations representative u That has an allocated budget and authority to create and enact disaster plan(s) u Do you have an Emergency Response Plan u That designates staff to contact and coordinate with Emergency Services (police, fire and EMS) during disasters u That includes procedures for safely evacuating personnel u That includes procedures for safely shutting down and securing facilities u That includes procedures for safely failing over technology to off-site backups u For on-premise data u For data stored in the cloud u Do you have a Crisis Communications Plan u For how to communicate with on-site employees u For how to communicate with off-site employees u For how to communicate with employee families u For how to communicate with customers u For how to communicate with vendors u For whom will communicate with the media u And what media outlets are approved for communications 3 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING CHECKLIST SHARE THIS EBOOK

4 u Do you have a Disaster Recovery Plan u That includes procedures for recovering on-premise data from backup u That includes procedures for recovering off-site data from backup u That includes procedures for recovering cloud data from backup u That includes procedures for reestablishing internal communications for employees in new/redundant location(s) u Including all accounts u Including all voice/telephony connections u Including all instant messaging/chat u That includes procedures for reestablishing external communications with customers and partners from new/redundant location(s) u Including all accounts u Including all voice/telephony connections u Including all instant messaging/chat u That brings replacement/alternate versions of all critical business applications online u With access to all restored/recovered data u That maintains all audit/compliance documentation during recovery u That maintains all backup procedures during and after recovery u Do you have a Business Continuity Plan u That identifies critical business functions that must be restored after a disaster u Including the minimal functions that must be restored to resume basic operations u Including a priority list of all additional business functions, and the order in which they should be restored u That addresses where redundant facilities are located u That addresses where redundant information technology assets are located u Including how to outfit employees with replacement workstations/devices u That addresses where redundant operational assets are located u Including how to bring these assets online 4 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING CHECKLIST SHARE THIS EBOOK

5 u Do you have an Employee Assistance Program u Including trauma/grief counselors, if necessary u Including employee-focused housing/medical assistance programs, if necessary u Including procedures to accommodate/transport employees to redundant locations, if necessary u Including training employees on the use of redundant operational assets, if necessary u Do you have a Disaster Response Training Program u That ensures all incoming employees are trained on their relevant roles and responsibilities during a disaster u That ensures all current employees are trained on their relevant roles and responsibilities during a disaster u Including refresher programs to highlight changes from past procedures u That tests all aspects of the above plans before a disaster occurs The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rightfully prioritizes saving lives during times of disaster. That means it s up to you to save your business, and that starts with saving your data. Insurance can replace offices and equipment; it can t replace vital, proprietary business data. You can estimate the impact of data loss to your business with Datto s Recovery Time and Downtime Cost Calculator. Without a competent disaster recovery plan, a major catastrophe could put your organization out of business. The goal of your disaster response plan should be to save your people from harm, and your company from bankruptcy. Use Datto s RTO calculator to evaluate whether your Disaster Recovery Plan will keep your downtime-related loss low enough to ensure your organization can survive the impact of a major disaster. 5 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING CHECKLIST SHARE THIS EBOOK