It's only a matter of time.
Sooner or later, your business will experience a minor or major event that disrupts normal business processes.
It could be a fire, an earthquake, hacker sabotage, or something you could never have predicted.
A disaster event can cause the loss of business data, the loss of access to company operations and infrastructure, the loss of personnel, or any combination of these.
The way you prepare for a disaster can make the difference between a business that survives and continues to prosper and a business that comes to an untimely end.
The amount of detail you'll need in your plan depends on the complexity of your enterprise.
Considering how much today's businesses rely on computer technology, one essential part of emergency preparation is a data center disaster recovery plan.
A data center can refer to a networked system of hundreds of servers.
It can also mean a couple of desktop computers in a turnkey office.
Regardless of your company's size, protecting data and computer resources should be a priority.
Here are some key components of a data center disaster recovery plan: Communication strategy In the event of a disaster, the lines of communication must remain open.
Assign persons to be in charge of notifying employees, calling emergency services, etc.
Maintain up-to-date contact information for employees, suppliers, partners, major customers, insurance companies and anyone else who must be informed about the company's status.
Copies of this information should be kept both on-site and off-site.
Identify multiple ways to communicate with employees, such as a toll-free phone line, website, cell phones, Blackberries, etc.
Make sure employees know the basic emergency safety measures and evacuation procedures.
Technology and infrastructure replacement plan If a disaster strikes, you may need to set up operations in a temporary location and replace damaged equipment.
Decide what locations are available for use, such as a branch office, a hotel, your home, etc.
Make a thorough inventory of your computer and network equipment.
Define the minimum requirements to get your business up and running in the short term.
Identify suppliers who can offer temporary or permanent replacement equipment to rebuild your data center.
Computer backup system Protecting your mission-critical data is a large responsibility.
There are various types of software and services that can perform this task, some better than others.
When evaluating the options, look for ease of use, flexibility, and scalability.
Most importantly, the program or system must store your data securely and be able to quickly restore the backups with complete reliability.
The system should be able to back up to many types of media - server, tape, DVD, removable drive, etc.
Always keep a copy of backed up data in a location separate from your office building, preferably at least a few blocks away.
You may want to use online data backup services that store your data securely in a remote location.
Test your computer backups on a regular basis to make sure all data and files can be restored if needed.
The last thing you want is a file recovery disaster on top of your data center emergency.