Disaster Recovery Plan
The majority of the administrative elements and many of the academic programs are heavily dependent and integrated with data processing to the extent that continued operation without data processing would require extensive alteration in methods of doing business. In the event that data processing services are interrupted for any extensive period of time, it is necessary that the University have a plan for continuing operations and reestablishing automated data processing.
A disaster recovery plan is a written contingency plan for responding to a disaster which has disrupted the data processing facilities. Its purpose is to provide a general guide based upon preplanned actions which will reduce decision making during the recovery process and enable resumption of normal operations in the most cost effective manner. The plan includes but is not limited to the following:
a disaster project team with a list of basic responsibilities for the team members,
a list of offices and programs in order of assessed critical dependence upon automated data processing (ADP),
risk assessment of types of disasters,
recovery priorities and operations,
requirements analysis,
plan update criteria and review schedule,
hardware and software inventory,
support agreements with agencies and vendors.
The planning is both a positive management tool and is required by Texas State Law.
Since the threat of hurricane is the single most risk to our campus, the University Hurricane Plan will take precedence where any conflict might arise with this plan or methodologies.
The Assistant Vice President for Technology is responsible for preparation of the preliminary disaster recovery plan. The Administrative Council will review the plan for the purpose of acceptance as University policy and recommend approval or recommend appropriate changes required for approval. The President, by law, is the authority responsible for disaster recovery planning.
Each office that might be impacted by an extended outage is required to assign a representative to the University ADP disaster recovery team. The representative will be the
trainer/liaison between the recovery and planning team, and the office or department. Each office is encouraged to prepare an operation methodology plan for its own needs should automated resources be unavailable for more than two days or during critical events.
Project Team
The Project Team consists of a Computer Center, Microcomputer Services, Media Services, Electronic Maintenance staff, and a representative from each critical department and Physical Plant. The project team is divided into the following sub-elements: Damage Assessment, Systems and Applications Software, Operations, and a Management Group.
The Damage Assessment Team is led by the ADP Manager of the Computer Center (backup leader is Network Manager).
"FAQ: Disaster Recovery Planning for Health Care Data." SearchHealthIT. Ed. Anne Steciw. TechTarget, May 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. .
The National response plan outlines four key actions the disaster coordinator should take. They are gaining and maintaining situational awareness, activate and deploy key resources and capabilities, coordinating response actions and demobilizing. Throughout the response it is essential that responders have access to critical information. During the initial response effort the situation is will change rapidly. Situational awareness starts at the incident site. For this reason it is essential that decision makers have access to the right information at the right time. By establishing an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) all key responders are brought ...
Both man-made and natural disasters are often devastating, resource draining and disruptive. Having a basic plan ready for these types of disaster events is key to the success of executing and implementing, as well as assessing the aftermath. There are many different ways to create an emergency operations plan (EOP) to encompass a natural and/or man-made disaster, including following the six stage planning process, collection of information, and identification of threats and hazards. The most important aspect of the US emergency management system in preparing for, mitigating, and responding to man-made and natural disasters is the creation, implementation and assessment of a community’s EOP.
Their role is to ensure that those who help in the recovery are trained to respond to any such disaster.
This Plan establishes a framework for the management and coordination of actions to be taken by local government and certain private organizations preparing for and responding to emergencies and disasters that threaten Howard County.
At this location, they would set up all essential functions and run their operations through an additional off-site backup server location (located in a different time zone). Once essential functions are up and running, and there is need, the university may bring in more staff to the hot site in Dallas. Since the coordinating staff will be localized it will be easier to communicate with each other and the campus community post disaster. Once they can reenter the city, facilities personnel will inspect each building and make sure it is up to code before anyone comes back to campus. By having these plans in place and everyone knowing exactly what is
A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is planned to guarantee the continuation of important business processes in the event that a natural or man-made disaster occurs. A DRP will offer an effective system that can be used to recover all important business processes needed to maintain normal operations within an organization promptly. A DRP will allow any organization the ability to handle events surrounding any crisis that takes place.
Disaster Recovery Planning is the critical factor that can prevent headaches or nightmares experienced by an organization in times of disaster. Having a disaster recovery plan marks the difference between organizations that can successfully manage crises with minimal cost, effort and with maximum speed, and those organizations that cannot. By having back-up plans, not only for equipment and network recovery, but also detailed disaster recovery plans that precisely outline what steps each person involved in recovery efforts should undertake, an organization can improve their recovery time and minimize the disrupted time for their normal business functions. Thus it is essential that disaster recovery plans are carefully laid out and carefully updated regularly. Part of the plan should include a system where regular training occurs for network engineers and managers. In the disaster recovery process extra attention should also be paid to training any new employees who will have a critical role in this function. Also, the plan should require having the appropriate people actually practice what they would do to help recover business function should a disaster occur. Some organizations find it helpful to do this on a quarterly or semi-annual basis so that the plan stays current with the organization’s needs.
In regards to contingency planning, there are two key definitions. A contingency plan itself is “A plan used by an organization or business unit to respond to a specific systems failu...
Planning is the foundation of implementation and putting a process in place in the case of an emergency, evacuation or catastrophe. With planning, you become organized and equipped with the necessary tools to implement an emergency plan. Once the plan has been implemented, and you become organized and equipped by using the information in the plan, and utilizing all its resources, then there should be adequate training involved, and that the emergency plan in place is being followed thru and each individual has the skillset to adhere to and proceed in the case of an emergency. In order to keep the plan up-to-date, and the team/stakeholders organized and equipped and trained, there should be continual exercises with up-to-date information, scenarios, practices, policies and procedures within the exercise plan. There is always a place for improvement.
Government officials at all levels should have continuity of operations (COOP) plans in place that can be activated immediately following a disaster event. COOP plans are defined as an effort with businesses and government agencies that ensures the continued performance of essential functions during a wide range of potential emergencies (PublicResourceOrg). Incident response under COOP should provide plans for alternative facilities, additional personnel, resource allocation, interoperable communication, and vital records collection (PublicResourceOrg). Moreover, COOP is designed to ensure safety of all those involved, continue operational functionality, protect assets, minimize damage, survival of leadership positions, and administer response and recovery to those impacted by a disaster (PublicResourceOrg). Overall, response planning when comparing natural disasters and attacks using weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are similar.
This is a significant learning issue because these plans are crucial for intelligence getting to the correct entities during a disaster. Once a comprehensive plan is created, it will eliminate a barrier
Recovering from a disaster is usually a sluggish process. Safety is a primary issue, as are mental and physical well-being. If assistance is available, knowing how to access it makes the process faster and more effective. A typical disaster recovery strategy has several stages, including the following: • Understanding an organization's activities and how all of its resources are interconnected.
Natural disasters have no specific schedule or targeted place to happen as it happen anywhere, anytime. Yes, every local and central government has their own disaster management wings but they can’t guarantee you complete protection on-spot or on-time. Just ponder; you are enjoying a family vacation out station and sudden you get an alert of storm! In this situation, you are the only person to safeguard you and your family rather than a trained disaster management volunteer. So, all of us need to be prepared to prevent a harassing situation which is not mentioned in your day-planner.
The increase in unpredictable natural disasters events for a decade has led to put the disaster preparedness as a central issue in disaster management. Disaster preparedness reduces the risk of loss lives and injuries and increases a capacity for coping when hazard occurs. Considering the value of the preparatory behavior, governments, local, national and international institutions and non-government organizations made some efforts in promoting disaster preparedness. However, although a number of resources have been expended in an effort to promote behavioural preparedness, a common finding in research on natural disaster is that people fail to take preparation for such disaster events (Paton, 2005; Shaw 2004; Spittal, et.al, 2005; Tierney, 1993; Kenny, 2009; Kapucu, 2008; Coppola and Maloney, 2009). For example, the fact that nearly 91% of Americans live in a moderate to high risk of natural disasters, only 16% take a preparation for natural disaster (Ripley, 2006).