Disaster can strike at any time, in many different forms. Having an up-to-date disaster recovery and business continuity plan is critical. Components of that plan should include data recovery, risk analysis (quantitative and qualitative) and business impact analysis.

Risk analysis involves identifying, then assessing factors that may jeopardize the effiency of your business operations. Business impact analysis assesses financial or other losses sustained when Information Systems or business functions are either impaired or unavailable.

One size (templates) disaster recovery and business continuity plans have shortfalls. What works for one business may not fit your business at all. Some points to consider; The minimum time in which your business must recover, your potential losses (cost of downtime) as a direct (or indirect) result of the disaster, and finally that point of time when your data must be recovered (end of day, time of last transaction).

My personal observation

Provision redundancy in all facets of your plan. Back up mission critical data to DAT tapes and remotely offsite. Install redundant connectivity, for example a T-1 with DSL failover. Colocate your mission critical servers at a data center with multiple layers of security and backup power.

Spell out preventive measures designed to advert disasters, e.g., not allowing employees to use thumb drives. Not all disasters are due to acts of nature or hardware failures - some are man made.

The need for a functioning off-site Disaster Recovery/Alternative Hosting site is well known, given Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, the Okalahoma grass fires of Dec ‘05, tornado ally strikes of March ‘06 and the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 to name but a few. Once the decision has been made, or if mother nature has just made it for you, select a host that has working options and an expert staff to assist you.