Disaster Recovery
"It is a maxim worth remembering that if anything can possibly go wrong - it will. Just as the toast always falls to the floor jam side down, so too can one reasonably expect the most careful of plans to come unstuck when they are put into action.
A disaster can strike any organisation, large or small. It can arrive in the shape of storm, flood, fire, a terrorist bomb, product contamination or simply a quality control failure that allows sub-standard goods onto the market. If the incident is large enough it will put the business out of action for a short or long period. Whether the business recovers or not and whether it is still operating 12 months later depends on what advance planning has taken place. This means action before and not after disaster strikes." Stewart Kidd, Security and Loss Prevention Consultant, 2001, 'Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning' - http://www.risk-consultant.com/pdf/Crisis_Management.pdf
So, a disaster should also be regarded as one of the greatest risks to an institution and its systems and networks, and all organisations should plan for business continuity and disaster recovery.
"There can often be confusion - even among those who profess to be experts about the use of the two terms. Traditionally, managing a disaster has been viewed as a three part activity:
Dealing with the actual scenario (Fire, flood, explosion, release of toxic material etc)
Handling the by products of the disaster (Salvage, damage control, clean up, relocation etc)
Recovery - getting back to normal business.
Business continuity could therefore be viewed as a part of the disaster recovery plan. However many people use the two terms interchangeably." (Stewart Kidd, as above)
Creating and maintaining a reliable business continuity and disaster recovery plan is a complex undertaking. Prior to creating the plan itself, it is essential to consider the potential impacts of a disaster and to understand the underlying risks. These are the foundations upon which a reliable plan should be built. The plan itself must then be constructed and this is no small task. The plan must then be maintained, tested and audited to ensure that it remains appropriate to the needs of the organisation. If you are in any doubt about whether a disaster can strike a system and the infrastructure surrounding it at a UK institution, you should refer to Project Phoenix - A case study of City University's recovery from fire. The report was written jointly by David Rhind, Frank Toop and John Tibble and was published on 7 December 2001 and has been distributed by Universities UK to all Vice-Chancellors in the UK. Diana Warwick, Chief Executive of Universities UK, wrote the foreword, commending the report to all Vice-Chancellors and their colleagues. She writes: "For me, the report has the great merit of being clear, open, practical and honest."
