10 Oct 2008

How to test your disaster recovery services

Disaster recovery plans help keep businesses prepared for the worst and procedural run-throughs should be carried out at least once a year, according to an industry expert.

Firms can opt for a tabletop disaster recovery exercise, where documented procedures are rehearsed without hands-on practice, or a full test which should include planning, monitoring, a debriefing and plan revisions, writes Pierre Dorion at Search Storage.

"These elements are not exclusive to enterprise-class disaster recovery plans as SMBs have the same recovery requirements; they need to stay in business," he said.

Disaster Recovery tests should be planned, focussed on specific areas and clear objectives must be set and documented before the results of the full test, including overall flow, level of readiness, gaps in the plan, procedural errors, and documented and discussed in a debriefing.

Small to medium-sized businesses sometimes rely on their IT staff in the event of a disaster, but they might not all be available or encounter technological resources and environments they are less familiar with in the event of a recovery plan being enacted, Mr Dorion added.

Telesphere won the 2008 Telephony Innovation Award for most innovative disaster recovery service at the Telecom Summit held in Chicago this week.