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Essay / The Importance of Incorporating a Disaster Recovery Program into an Organization
Table of ContentsIntroductionReasons for a Disaster Recovery PlanHow to Create/Implement a Disaster Recovery PlanConclusionIntroductionDisaster Recovery Plan, DRP is a format or recorded procedure that a company follows for the purpose of recovering and protecting IT infrastructure in the event of a risk (Kim, Lee and Kim, pp.17-31). Disaster recovery planning was established in the late 1970s as many businesses became increasingly dependent on computer systems (Reimer, pp. 289-290). Notably, the batch-oriented system was popular at the time, which in many cases could drag and slow down for several days, causing significant damage to the organization. It is important to understand that a business cannot always avoid disaster; however, with active planning, the consequences of a tragedy can be neutralized (Cloud Computing an Emerging Tool to Survive E-Business Especially Small and Medium Sized Business, pp.1877-1880). Previous reports reinforce the idea that using a premeditated data recovery method ultimately proves to be very cost-effective (Research on Community Disaster Management Plan Planning Process in the Tsunami Affected Area, pp. .736-754). Additionally, reports showed that for every $1 spent on disaster recovery plans, businesses saved $4 in recovery and response. With the growth of technology and IT systems, which prove to be essential for the smooth functioning of the organization, the concern for increasing perpetual recovery and operation has increased. For example, research by the Australian Disaster Management Committee and the Harvard School of Business proved that 43% of businesses that suffered a significant loss of business data never reopened and 29% were closed within two years. years (Australasian Disaster and Hazard Research Directory, pp. 8-15). Therefore, the disaster recovery plan process must be taken seriously. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayReasons for a Disaster Recovery PlanA sudden and unforeseen event on the operational line of a company can greatly affect the business and interfere with the daily routine of the business. However, the fundamental truth is that every organization needs a disaster recovery plan to enable it to recover quickly and continue offering services to its customers once the risk occurs. There are several reasons why an organization should have a disaster recovery plan. First, it’s because downtime is expensive. According to researchers, downtime is a period or time when a computer is unavailable or not working. Previous research has shown that 20% of all organizations experience fires, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters each year. Likewise, in just one year, 80% of these businesses will have closed their doors. The cost of IT outages is expected to amount to $27.5 billion in lost revenue in North America alone, with major companies like Google and Twitter losing millions of dollars every week (ML Rahman, pp. 38-47) . The chart below shows that 70% of downtime and revenue loss in North America was due to power outage, 20% to flooding, and 10% to human error. The second reason forwhich an organization needs disaster recovery. plan is because prospects and customers expect it. In a perpetual business world, customers will always expect 24-hour services. Any downtime event means lack of access to the customer, resulting in lost revenue for the business and can lead to endless results like customer defection. Mother Nature is not working favorably. Disasters such as floods, earthquakes and tsunamis have cost the global economy more than $2.5 trillion since 2000, according to the World Bank report (Baruch, pp. 46-47). Similarly, the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 have had consequences so far, businesses are still struggling to recover from this tragedy. The basic fact is that it's hard to say when this is going to happen. A data recovery plan can prove effective in times like these. The equipment and machine will always break down. No one can resist the breakdown of the Internet and hard drive connection. It's also common for most people to have their computer crash before they can save an important file. As costly as it may be for a business to recover from an Internet outage in a given IT setting, having a disaster recovery plan in place ensures that the risk that caused an Internet outage or hard drive does not interfere with the daily operation of the business. The 2016 Google Transparency Report shows that people in more than 30 countries cannot access Google products and services at any given time due to machine failure and network interruption (Google responds to the report on Android Security, pp.8-13). The report further shows that in 2016, countries like Ethiopia and Congo were not connected to Google services for 3 days due to network disruption. Although different from machines, humans also share in the losses associated with downtime. Humans are wrong. No matter how careful a person may be, mistakes such as saving the wrong data or deleting an important file are inevitable. Such defects are common and constitute the solid to be rectified. Human error causes more data loss than a malicious attack, according to a study conducted by an Information Commission Office (ICO) in the United Kingdom. ICO proved that 62% of data loss was the result of human errors and malicious attacks such as hacking and insecure web pages, accounting for 9%. Human error has also led to data breaches. For example, a person may send data or information to the wrong person (ICO report warns pharmacies of data protection breaches, 2017). How to create/implement a disaster recovery plan? It is important for an organization to know and assess the risks, threats and core assets involved before formulating a disaster recovery plan. This can be done by thinking about the basis risk associated with all of the organization's assets and understanding the standby losses associated with the assets. An organization may include assets such as local area documents and files, product specifications and designs, valuables and cash, etc. Notably, when assessing the threat, an organization must take into account geographic diversity. For example, a company based in a single location does not have to worry about an earthquake as a threat, but instead has to worry about a terrorist attack. THE..