07 Nov 2008

Advice for firms on disaster recovery

Businesses which have a disaster recovery plan in place should ensure that their strategies are realistic and could be implemented successfully if an emergency arose, a Law.com report has suggested.

Although IT managers play an essential part in a disaster recovery plan by backing up vital company data, business leaders need to be aware of their firms' capabilities when preparing an emergency procedure, the article suggested.

"There are ways - with sophisticated information technology leadership and the right management of vendors - to execute an appropriate backup and replication plan and disaster recovery strategy," the law forum said.

The report said there are alternative solutions for smaller firms who cannot afford to backup their data in a secondary data centre.

Companies might consider hiring out storage space at a network services provider so they can backup their data there and have a disaster recovery plan in place.

The advice comes after Peak 10 director of engineering Jeramiah Dooley warned that many US firms were have been forced to fold after not having a disaster recovery strategy in place when they were faced with natural disasters such as flooding and unexpected data loss.