Appendix E: Business Impact Analysis Planning Kit-The Storm Before the Calm

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Summary

When you have completed your DR plan, test, test, test. This should be done as often as your company requires it, but at a minimum, it should be done annually. Some companies perform these tests every six months; some test components of the plan more often. Keep in mind that this is not a static document. Your data storage continues to grow and new challenges present themselves in managing this growth. This growth will have an impact on your DR plan; therefore, the plan needs to be dynamic and should be reviewed and updated regularly. Be as thorough as you possibly can. As mentioned in the beginning of this appendix, this is not an exhaustive planning kit. Rather, it is a beginning. Take as much into consideration as you possibly can, talk with as many people as possible, and get your legal counsel involved to help create this plan. Then continue to work the plan consistently. Hopefully, you will never have to use it, but if you do, it will be nice to know that the teams all know and understand their roles and will be able to carry out their tasks with some level of confidence because of the extensive testing you have regularly performed.

One of the items we have not covered in this appendix is your backup operations guide. You must ensure this process is documented with the same discipline as your DR plan, and you must make sure it is updated regularly. If you do not have an operations guide, I have developed one specifically for NetBackup that you may obtain by contacting DataStaff, Inc. (www.datastaff.com).

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