Implementing a disaster recovery policy to yourself
Today was a really rubbish day. Because of the stupidity of some strangers, something I depend on was damaged and as well as feeling pretty violated I had to spend the day sorting out a problem that took a matter of seconds to cause.
Here’s what I woke up to this morning:
For some sad reason I compared my misfortune to the drum that Small Business Resellers bang when they ask all their clients and prospects…
… Do you have a disaster recovery plan?
Here was mine:
- Ensure you used a reputable Insurance Company who would take ownership of the problem (think about who’s looking after your server and business information - do they have the right experience?)
- Be able to work remotely from home (requires Internet connection, Messenger, and Outlook - or at least OWA to get you up and kicking)
- Have the right people around you to ensure the problem is resolved properly (for example, are all parties involved talking to one another so that you don’t have to think of everything?)
- Ensure you can continue working even if the server fails (i.e. do you have a spare PC that you can run your accounts package from at least?)
- What are you going to do to ensure that the chances of this happening again are reduced? (I had a few on my list that probably weren’t legal…)
Your disaster recovery plan shouldn’t just be limited to the tin in the office, you should implement a disaster recovery plan that covers every aspect of the business (who knows where the chocolate biscuits are hidden if Mavis is off sick?).
For further reading, I would recommend you check out Karl Palachuk’s blog posts. His most recent one talks about business plans, but I would also suggest you look at how to put together a managed services offering (it’s very comprehensive so hat doft to Karl!).
Finally, after being stuck in the flat keeping one eye on my car and the other on work, my car has been picked up and taken to a secure lock up before the window is replaced. Fortunately, where it has been stored is 500 yards from my local SAAB garage so it’ll be getting it’s service this week… that reminds me, when was the last time you got your computer healthchecked?
I’d check with your IT support to make sure that everything is ticking over nicely.
Only Susanne Dansey could be the victim of mindless vandalism and then think “I’ll use this in a blog post on Disaster Recovery that others might find useful”. Kudos! Hope your car gets fixed soon and keep up the good work!
Very Sorry to see this happened and hope you are OK… glad you had your plan, mad that you thought about how to make it into a blog, but that is what we like about you. (Well, one of the things. There is also the way you cut through the bs… do I need to go on?)
One thing to add to the mix that I saw when Jeff Middleton saw New Orleans go under… is there anything you need (no, I don’t have a spare car)… ?
While you are being very business about this, one other point to consider - was there anything missing from your plan or your plan to prevent it happening again? Sometimes these things teach us what to do next time to stop it becoming a disaster. When I sold DR, 95% of all DR plans had a key element missing so failed .. frightening if someone was paying 2M per year for the benefit of the backup!
ttfn and take care
David
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