| | October 20158CIOReviewA Standardized Approach for Better Disaster Recovery planningDisaster Recovery planning is a difficult and tedious endeavor that often feels like you never quite achieve the full benefit of the effort you put into it. And because it is so daunting, it often gets pushed back on the priority list, like way back behind things like cleaning up that wiring closet or doing your expense reports. But the reality is if you don't have a solid plan when disaster strikes, the ramifications could also be a disaster to your career.By John J. Germain, VP, Infrastructure & Security Services, XylemI have tried to make the effort as painless as possible for my team by standardizing our approach and by not trying to boil the ocean all at once. Below is how we are executing in general terms and although success is hard to measure until lightning strikes, it has been an effective way for us to establish our program. To be honest, this is not rocket surgery. Just a lot of hard work and attention to detail held together by strong governance and a solid framework.Three Questions to answer before hunkering down and writing plans:1. Who owns disaster recovery? The IT function might seem like the obvious choice, and maybe it is, but it is also important to consider that the people running the business will need to be involved as well. IT may not have the intimate knowledge of how the business operates, how revenue is generated or what systems and services are most critical. This information is vital when determining recovery priority. 2. What do you expect to get out of the effort? You only get out of it what you put in and it is important that you decide your goals upfront. If all you want to do is check a box for audit, then you may not end up with plans that deliver if and when needed. DR planning is hard, takes a lot of time and in the end you hope that you never have to use them. As an organization you have to decide what you're true intentions are and then dedicate the appropriate resources.3. How do you define a disaster? A difficult part of DR Planning is defining what constitutes a disaster or maybe better put, trying to account for every type of calamity. In my opinion the better approach is to focus less on the type of potential disasters and more on what critical functions the business can no longer perform (shipping product, communicating with customers, closing the financial John J. Germainopinionin myS
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