I have experience working in various organizations, some of which had dedicated IT departments while others consisted of small IT teams. Each organization implemented a unique disaster recovery plan tailored to its specific needs, utilizing either on-premise systems or alternative technologies like cloud solutions.
Risk assessment and analysis are crucial for identifying potential threats to systems, including external risks such as natural disasters, human-caused incidents, cyber-attacks, hardware failures, and data sharing vulnerabilities.
Clear notification procedures must be established within the contingency plan to guide the response to disasters. A Disaster Recovery Committee, composed of management, IT leads, security personnel, and human resources, plays a vital role in managing the disaster recovery process. This committee is responsible for detecting and communicating disaster information, maintaining recovery plans, monitoring situations, and ensuring a return to normal operations while continuously improving the disaster recovery plan based on lessons learned.
Recovery procedures should be developed to restore IT services, including actions to recover system data and test functionality, ensuring that security controls are operational. Additionally, training on data security, backup procedures, and maintenance processes is essential to prevent future disasters.