Preparing to Develop a Disaster Recovery Plan

Chapter 2

You Will Learn How To…

Understand the need for executive support of disaster recovery planning

Establish leadership for disaster recovery planning

Organize a disaster recovery planning team Create an inventory of planning team skills Help train the disaster recovery planning team

You Will Learn How To…

Start an awareness campaign for disaster recovery planning

Establish a budget for disaster recovery planning and management

Cope with standards and regulatory bodies

Assess progress of the plan and move ahead

The Need for Executive Support

Successfully organizational change or enterprise-wide initiatives is easier when top managers support the effort

Executives Are responsible for leading the development of

disaster recovery plans Will probably not continue to provide support if they

do not receive support in return Need training in disaster recovery planning and

regular briefings on the progress of the plan

Disaster Recovery Planning

Four of every 10 managers surveyed think the upper-level managers do not take disaster recovery planning seriously enough

Executive Preparation

Middle-level managers Perform the detailed, day-to-day work to analyze disaster

recovery needs Develop policies and procedures

Executives Play an essential role in developing disaster recovery plans that

no other person can perform Are high-level emissaries to boards of directors, investors,

business partners, the general public, and the media Executive preparation - the process of training

executives to articulate the organization’s philosophy for disaster recovery planning

Actions Required to Prepare Executives

Executive Briefings

The coordinator of the disaster recovery planning team should be responsible for briefing executives on the planning effort

Planning team leaders from various departments should attend these briefings and answer specific questions

Key public relations personnel and legal counsel should also attend the briefings

Executives should receive a disaster planning support list of people with whom they can discuss planning issues

Establishing Leadership for Disaster Recovery Planning

The highest levels of management need to support disaster recovery planning across the enterprise

The highest levels of management includeChief executive officer ( CEO )Chief operating officer ( COO )Chief financial officer ( CFO )Chief information officer (CIO )

Challenges to Effective Leadership

Good leaders must havePolitical clout within the organizationThe motivation to stick with the time-

consuming task of developing a plan

Disaster Recovery Planning

Five of every 10 organizations surveyed have established some type of centralized disaster recovery planning

Disaster Recovery Planning Coordinator

The disaster recovery planning coordinator is responsible for project management and day-to-day leadership of the planning team

A mid-level manager should be assigned the coordinating role in developing a disaster recovery plan

The person assigned to be the planning coordinator must dedicate considerable time to the process

The coordinator needs to be Able to give the plan full attention when necessary Detail-oriented without getting lost in the process Able to work diplomatically with all departments and external

resources Able represent all corporate concerns for the plan Able to balance various department perspectives

Organizations with a Disaster Recovery Coordinator

Disaster Recovery Coordinator Responsibilities

Files a Disaster Recovery Coordinator Should Maintain

Adequately Documented Disaster Recovery Procedures

Five out of every 10 organizations surveyed think that disaster recovery procedures are not adequately documented in their organization

Activity Log

Activity log - a list of important events or accomplishments, the dates they occurred, and which departments or subcommittees participated

Organizing the Disaster Recovery Planning Team

Every department in the enterprise needs to be represented

Each department should have two representatives Primary department representative - a full member

of the planning team Alternate department representative - a secondary

member Two representatives

Increase the chances of maintaining team continuity Decrease the difficulty in scheduling meetings

The Executive Champion

The big challenge in forming a team is getting the time and attention of busy managers

The executive champion should ensure that the team gets the resources, participation, and cooperation needed

The executive champion’s role is symbolic and supportive

The team must understand the responsibilities of each department in disaster recovery planning

Departmental Responsibilities in Disaster Recovery Planning

Departmental Responsibilities in Disaster Recovery Planning

The Role of IT Staff and Network Managers on the Team

IT and Network Management departments are represented on the disaster recovery planning team

They probably require more representatives on the team than most other departments, and more of a role in planning

IT and network managers on the team must address enterprise issues as well as specific department and business application issues

The mix of IT architecture and software applications helps determine the number and expertise of the IT representatives

Representation

At least one representative each is needed from Data center operations Network management Desktop computing Each of the major IT applications, including

Financial management support Supply-chain systems Enterprise resource planning (ERP) Human resources support

Areas of Representation of IT and Network Management

Creating Interdepartmental Subcommittees

Disaster recovery planning subcommittee A group of planning team members and technical

experts from various departments that is formed to solve specific problems or explore special planning issues

These subcommittees typically address problems that do not need the full attention of the planning team, and require expertise that all team members may not possess

Organizing the Team at the Departmental Level

Each department should have its own disaster recovery planning group

These groups should Conduct specific departmental research to

help establish the corporate planHelp evaluate the plan as it is drafted by the

enterprise team Implement the plan at the department level

once it is developed

Organizing the Team at the Departmental Level

The size and membership of departmental teams vary depending on the department’s diversity of activities

The major obstacle in forming well-rounded department planning groups is getting the time and interest of necessary supervisors and technical experts

Employees may feel threatened by the entire process of disaster recovery planning

IT Staff and Network Managers and Department Teams

IT staff and network managersShould be prepared to work with departmental

disaster recovery planning groupsCan help department planning groups protect

these systems in a crisisCan also help departments overcome the

technology challenges of operating in temporary quarters and completely recovering their operations

Creating an Inventory of Planning Team Skills

To help determine the skills of planning team members, the coordinator should compile an inventory of their background and training

A skills inventory includes a list of corporate team members and those in department planning groups, along with an assessment of each team member’s skills

The inventory should point out which employee skills are most helpful in disaster recovery planning, and which team members have prior experience in managing such plans

Skills Inventory for Disaster Recovery Planning Team

Individual Skills Inventory

All planning team members need to conduct initial assessments of their own departments to determine if any staff have experience with disaster recovery planning

Departmental team members with related experience need to be noted as potential resources

Individual Skills Inventory

Training the Disaster Recovery Planning Team

The planning team needs training to understand what it is trying to do and to understand the issues and basic concepts of disaster recovery planning

Each team member should research disaster recovery issues that affect their disciplines or departments

This research includes Case studies of what other organizations have done Professional papers from their disciplines Government regulations that individual departments need to

observe in their business processes The biggest obstacle to disaster recovery training is

getting all the team members together at one time and having them focus on the topic

Selecting Outside Help

Many organizations need outside help at some stage of disaster recovery planning

Organizations are more likely to know what outside support they need once They have inventoried the skills of the

planning teamMembers have undergone initial training

Selecting Outside Help

Two of every 10 organizations surveyed have hired outside consultants for disaster recovery planning

Setting the Planning Team’s Schedule

Organizations should establish an agenda for their disaster recovery planning team

They should also set a schedule for accomplishing goals immediately after the team has been formed The first step is to set a regular meeting schedule Weekly meetings are recommended for the first

several weeks The planning team coordinator should oversee the

scheduling of these meetings to ensure that all involved parties attend

Setting the Planning Team’s Schedule

During these initial meetings, the team needs to establish a communications process

If a company so chooses Form subcommittees Identify responsibilities Assign interdepartmental tasks

The departmental planning groups should meet as often as necessary to keep their tasks on schedule and support the enterprise-wide planning team

Sample Disaster Recovery Planning Schedule

Starting an Awareness Campaign

To successfully implement a disaster recovery plan, an organization needs the support of all its employees

Five of every 10 managers think that employees in their organization do not take planning efforts seriously enough

Starting an Awareness Campaign

Organizations must start building awareness of their planning efforts early in the process

The goal of an awareness campaign is to inform all the employees in an enterprise about the disaster recovery planning effort

Efforts to build awareness include In-house media campaigns Enterprise-wide training

Media campaigns can include articles in employee newsletters, postings on enterprise intranets, and posters on bulletin boards

Public relations staff should be asked to help develop these campaigns

The Message Upper Management Should Convey to the Outside

Executives should convey a consistent and uniform message about their disaster recovery planning efforts

Any executive statements regarding the organization’s disaster recovery planning should be relatively short and to the point

Statements should be formulated in coordination with the planning team, the public relations staff, and even the legal counsel, depending on the circumstances

Executives should not comment on pending legislation or government regulations

What Upper Management Should Tell the Board and Investors

Executives are responsible for briefing the board of directors on the organization’s disaster recovery planning

These briefings should be precise reports on the plan’s progress and obstacles

If the board is not interested in the details, the planning team coordinator should prepare a five- to 10-minute presentation that covers the plan’s high points and its implementation

The Message to take to the Media and the General Public

Executive responses to questions about disaster recovery planning should be short and to the point

They should refer detailed questions to the public relations staff and the disaster recovery planning team

The purpose of this approach is to avoid putting executives in the awkward position of explaining details they may not know off the top of their heads

Budgeting for Disaster Recovery Planning and Management

Organizations use one of two major models to establish a disaster recovery function

A centralized office or a part-time coordinator Four of every 10 organizations surveyed use a

centralized office, while the other six have placed the function in another department

A centralized office requires a larger budget than a part-time planning coordinator

Regardless of the office structure, salaries are usually the most expensive item in a disaster recovery planning budget

Disaster Recovery Planning Coordinators

Salaries for Disaster Recovery Planning Staff

Salaries for full-time disaster recovery planners are influenced by location, years of experience, and related certifications

Salaries for Disaster Recovery Planning Staff

Salaries for Disaster Recovery Planning Staff

Budget Structure for a Centralized Office

A centralized office of disaster recovery planning is probably necessary in large organizations

Each organization can place the office within a reporting structure that makes the most sense

This placement varies by organization A centralized planning office requires several

budget items, as shown in Table 2-13

Budget Structure for a Centralized Office

Budget Structure for a Part-Time Disaster Recovery Coordinator

When centralized offices of disaster recovery planning are not necessary, the budget structure is considerably different

For example, a part-time disaster recovery coordinator usually requires fewer staff and less overhead

Also, part-time coordinators have other responsibilities, so they usually have an office, computer, and telephone already in place

Table 2-14 shows a sample budget structure for a part-time disaster recovery coordinator

Budget Structure for a Part-Time Disaster Recovery Coordinator

Coping with Standards and Regulatory Bodies

The team must recognize that organizations in many industries are required by law to have specific procedures in place

Managers often have trouble interpreting what action or standard a regulation requires, so an organization’s legal counsel must research and interpret these requirements

Disaster recovery planners need the same type of legal assistance

Assessing Progress and Preparing to Move Ahead

Managers should evaluate progress as the process moves from one step to the next

It is good to have a disaster recovery planning checklist

Once the planning team has completed all the items on the list, the team and department groups should be ready to move to Step Two of the plan

Step 2 is assessing risks in the enterprise

Checklist for organizing the Disaster Recovery Plan

Chapter Summary

One of the greatest frustrations for disaster recovery planners is the difficulty of gaining and maintaining support from upper-level managers

The disaster recovery planning coordinator should represent all corporate concerns for the plan and balance various department perspectives

Every department in the organization needs to be represented on the disaster recovery planning team

The coordinator should compile an inventory of their background and training

The major obstacle to disaster recovery training is getting all the team members together at one time and getting them to focus on the topic

Chapter Summary

The goal of an awareness campaign is to inform all the employees in an enterprise about the disaster recovery planning effort

Organizations use one of two major models to establish a disaster recovery function A centralized office, or A part-time coordinator

The team must recognize that organizations in many industries are required by law to have specific procedures in place

Once the planning team has completed all the tasks for organizing its disaster recovery plan, it should be ready to move to assessing risks in the enterprise