Ever since Marc Andreessen declared that software is eating the world, IT’s appetite for transforming the physical into the virtual has carried on unabated. The Internet has created massive amounts of new business. Read more
In this disaster recovery blog, you’re probably used to seeing articles on DR, DRP, DRM and in general anything relating to getting data and systems back in order after an IT incident. Read more
Like a challenge? Trying to figure out your disaster recovery plan for a legacy system could be just the thing. But don’t come complaining when you’ve run out of aspirin to take the pain away, because DR for old apps and the machines on which they run can be a very complicated affair. Read more
Good business continuity planning may be half the battle. But if you haven’t tested to check your plan works, then don’t expect to win. The example of organisations that did data backups, failed to test and found afterwards their files were unrecoverable proves the point. But how should you test your BCP? Approaches from other areas may have some useful pointers. Good software testing for instance is often a matter of mixing and matching human tester personalities. Here’s a tester profile model adapted for testing your BC plan and preparations. Read more
Sometimes it’s difficult to see the forest for the trees. Disaster recovery plans can rapidly grow in complexity, as organisations get larger and IT systems more intricate. The use of templates can sometimes help DR planners to focus on essentials, but even templates don’t always do the trick. As with many challenges, the way forward may be to break the problem down into component parts or to initially simplify it and build in any additional, necessary complexity afterwards. For example, larger entities might start with a small business approach to ensure that each department or business unit at least has the following items under control. Read more