Best practice makes perfect

"To be prepared for business continuity, you need a robust IT disaster recovery plan - the two go hand in hand." So says Mike Philpott, Datashare Solutions Operations Director. For the benefit of those concerned with business continuity and network maintenance, he has compiled a short checklist of best practice, which when adhered to can minimise the risk of network downtime and its inherent problems.

"When it comes to network business continuity there are, in my opinion, five key rules of thumb," explains Philpott. These are:

?Ensure you have at the least a rudimentary understanding of network configuration

?Assess your network lifecycle - so you can identify what needs to be protected

?Create a basic network lifecycle plan covering all devices

?Do your best to ensure networks are correctly configured and new devices or upgrades properly installed

?Remember that a third party specialist managing your network can reduce IT configuration problems and relieve the IT burden in-house

"Creating a disaster recovery plan should be part and parcel of business continuity management, "Philpott continues. "Your plan needs to interface with your main business continuity strategy. Above all, it should major on the key processes required to recover critical IT functions and it is imperative that the disaster recovery plan is tested and reviewed regularly, and updated apace with business objectives."

Major network disruption - how would you fare?

Philpott advises that businesses need to set clear disaster recovery objectives. IT disaster recovery policy should contain a statement outlining the scope of the disaster recovery plan; when the plan should be implemented and the consequences that it protects. "Keep asking yourself, what would the impact be of major network disruption? Would you be able to host your services from your primary site or should services be recovered at a secondary one?"

Philpott also suggests that team members should be clear about their assigned roles and appropriate disaster recovery training should be provided.

Testing, testing...

"Testing on an ongoing basis is vital," he adds. "You need to consider every element that goes into recovering your data so we're talking about testing your disaster recovery plan, the process, the people involved... all the components of critical IT services.

"Personnel must be familiar with recovery documentation and processes; you need to verify how effective your recovery site is and be sure that the recovery objectives you have set are in fact achievable," he says. "Testing your disaster recovery plan also highlights where improvements could be made in your business continuity strategy and recovery procedures."

Does your disaster recovery plan make the grade?

"Testing will depend on your team's disaster recovery experience and the specifics of your environment," says Philpott. "The maturity of your disaster recovery planning and in-house capabilities will come into play. Many organisations find it advantageous to call in the skills of a third party business continuity expert. After all, enhancements may be required to your network itself and your disaster recovery plan, or it could be that a number of tests are required before you can be confident that your existing disaster recovery policy provides the level of data security you need."

If you would like advice on network business continuity and disaster planning, or details about Datashare Solutions Cerberus disaster recovery solutions, please contact a member of our team.