What is disaster recovery?
An integral part of business continuity, it's the processes, policies and procedures of restoring operations which are critical to resuming business. It encompasses the following:
- Regaining access to critical data
- records, hardware, software, networks, etc.
- Restoring communications
- incoming/outgoing, phone, fax, internet, etc.
- Restoring work spaces and other business operations
- financial and administrative software system
The range of disaster impact can vary greatly, depending on the type of event:
- Limited: hardware, software and equipment
(theft, accidental damages, failures, viruses, malicious access)
- Localized: effects only buildings in your
district
or municipality (networks, fires, floods, lightning strikes, local
power outages)
- Regional: effects all districts and municipalities in the area
(hurricanes, blackouts, major floods, snow events, tornadoes)
What kind of disasters can effect your school district or municipality? |
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| Man-made Disasters |
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- Equipment Failure
- Theft
- Computer Viruses
- Arson
- Terrorism
- Vandalism/Property Damage
- Blackouts
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| Natural Disasters |
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- Ice Storms & Snow Events
- Floods
- Fires
- Hurricanes &
Tornadoes
- Earthquakes
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Solid business continuity plans...
- Avert or minimize the damage that disasters would cause to operations
- Involve more than just preparing for a move off-site after a disaster
- Address the cost and time loss associated with recovery from any disaster
- Address how to keep critical functions operating in the event of disruptions, both large and small
- Consist of precautions taken so that the effects of the disaster will be minimized, and reduce the risk of potentially losing important financial data
- Must be tested and clearly documented
The New York State Comptroller’s Office recommends...
- Districts/municipalities have a Disaster Recovery Plan consisting of advance decisions on what, how, when, and who are needed to provide a solution that will sustain critical business functions. The plan should include precautions to be taken to minimize the effects of a disaster so that the organization will be able to either maintain or quickly resume mission-critical functions. Such planning involves more than preparing for a move offsite after a disaster.
- Districts/municipalities develop and adopt a Comprehensive IT Policy relating to Data Backup and Disaster Recovery that addresses the range of threats to your IT system, including specific details or critical components such as an alternate processing site and the security of backups
- Districts/municipalities have a Remote Disaster Recovery Plan [included in a business continuity plan] in place for Financial Data and Software Systems and Administrative Data and Software Systems that describes specific guidelines for the protection of essential data against damage, loss, or destruction
- Verify that backup data is periodically tested and restored to ensure that it is complete, accurate, and usable.
Click here to find out how our Remote Disaster Recovery Services Suite - Finance Manager Edition, can help you meet these recommendations.
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