Develop Your Disaster Recovery Manual This stinks More work? Oh my God! Call his wife, he s lost it!
Disaster/Emergency Preparedness General steps to an effective Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan include: 1. Risk Management 2. Business Impact Analysis 3. Vital Records Protection 4. Develop & Write DR Plan 5. Develop DR Strategy/outline 6. Alternate Recovery Site
5. Backup Procedures 6. Off-Site Storage Location (s) 7. Train Personnel 8. Test the DR Plan 9. Maintain/Update the DR Plan 10. Identify Dependencies
#1 Risk Management: Determines which events could seriously disrupt normal business and the preventive actions to take. It addresses vulnerabilities to people, vital records and facilities.
Pandemics Theft Natural or Man-made, Disasters Happen! Terrorism Hackers
Prevention: Disaster Prevention Is Always Better than Recovering From a Disaster Oh dear! Did I ever Back up Those Vital Records?
Disruption Cost: #2 Business Impact Analysis Identify essential products, services, resources, dependencies and the time frame that functions must be restored for survival of programs, services, departments, accountability (legal) or reputation.
#3 Develop Disaster/Emergency Plan First, get top management approval; this will involve time, money and buy-in. Address the response and recovery priority methods of recovery. Personnel & alternates, responsibilities, calling tree, security, evacuation & meeting location, building floor plan & safe places for staff and visitors in the event of severe weather.
Photos should be taken before and after a disaster from A to Z of the materials that are at risk.
Yet Our Sign Was Still There
Risk Assessment Impact Analysis Plan Development Plan Testing Notification Plan Management Recovery To develop a Disaster Recovery Plan, you must first get started. The place to start is the at beginning.
Planning for Disasters/Emergencies is a Team Sport; everyone must work together and support the over-all plan. Our businesses supports our jobs, which supports our families when it survives, we can survive.
#4 Develop Disaster Recovery Strategy Before and following a disaster; determine requirements for hardware, operating systems, applications, data files, forms and other system software. Prioritize recovery and time frames for telecommunications and systems availability following a disaster.
#5 Select Alternate Recovery Sites Identify requirements for backup restoration sites and office space; this should include, hot, cold or warm sites.
#6 Backup Procedures Assign the proper method and frequency of operating systems, applications and data file backup procedures; and assign retention schedules for all backups as required.
#7 Select Off-Site Storage Determine off-site storage requirements and finalize. This should consider what types of facilities/businesses is near and the distance (miles) of these locations from the main facility housing originals.
#8 Train Personnel Design, develop, and conduct Disaster Recovery/Preparedness training. This should also include emergency CPR, security and I.D. badges. All training must include the Vital Records Protection Procedures.
Mitigation: Look at what DR supplies you may need in advance; purchase, rent or borrow? Identify and post all Safe Locations in the event of major storms. Outline and post instructions for Bomb Threats and Fire Protection Equipment.
#9 Test the Disaster Recovery Plan Design, develop, and test the plan; design a method of testing various aspects of the plan. Some will need the physical aspects tested and others can many times be none in a table-top exercise. Brain-storm during this time as to how the plan can be improved.
#10 Maintain the DR Plan Establish, develop, and revise a Disaster Recovery maintenance plan. Your DR Plan/Manual is a living document and is never complete; this is due to the ever-changing content such as the Calling Tree, Vital Records, locations, and other dynamic resources.
Regardless of the size of your group (large or small) the Disaster Recovery Team will have to ware many hats. Each person s responsibilities may hinge on someone else knowing how to perform those same duties.
VITAL RECORDS Preparedness and Mitigation
PLANNING
A Vital Records Program: Identifies and protects vital records Assesses and analyze their vulnerability Determines the impact of their loss on the organization s key functions and activities in the event of an emergency/disaster
Now, where did I file those vital records?
Ask Questions
Many large business today are adding vital records protection to their DR plans due to new laws. These laws come into play as many organizations do not adequately consider liability management and asset protection in their DR/BCP plans. Records are the corporate memory of an organization and should be considered a vital asset.
No Plan? This can expose organizations to potential litigation and financial loss to everyone involved in the aftermath of a major disaster. Today s Business Insurance Policy So, here we see a second risk; in addition to the loss of vital business records. $$$
See University Policy on Vital Records at: http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/ departments/fa/management/business /manual/0907.shtml. Included there is also a listing of records considered vital within the University. Records Management - Policy #907
Develop written procedures for duplicating vital records at time of creation and predetermined backup schedule. Develop written procedures for transferring to off-site or on-site storage, including transmittal forms.
A copy of the completed plan should go to each facility unit, top management, offsite backup locations, Fire & Police Departments, Environmental Health & Safety, all team leaders and to other team members. When your plan is successful, everyone wins!
FYI Resource: FEMA Understanding Your Risks: Identifying hazards and estimating losses -(FEMA 386-2), provides step-by-step guidance on how to accomplish a risk assessment which is the first phase of the planning process.
Also try www. DRJ.COM And DISASTER RESOURCE GUIDE PO Box 15243 Santa Ana, CA 92735 www.continuityeguide.com
Thank You for Your Time and Attention Together We Can Make a Difference
Willie M. Jones, Records Analyst UM Records Management University of Missouri System 2910 LeMone Blvd. Columbia, Missouri 65211 Phone (573) 882-5955, fax (573) 882-7362 jonesw@umsystem.edu http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/ departments/fa/management/records/