Disaster recovery and Business Continuity
No one can predict when a disaster will happen. One can only predict the "devastating effects" of an interruption of business caused by this event.
Various studies reveal that only 2% of those companies that suffer a catastrophic loss of data manage to survive for more than one year. The ability to restore business-critical process data quickly is a high priority for all companies today.
Often we approach these issues with IT Managers and discover that the only security mechanisms in place are the traditional backups on tape.
Therefore, it proves difficult to restore systems quickly and confidently, and in the worst cases it proves impossible to recover the system itself because of a lack of indispensable but unavailable data.
The Business Continuity Management Service was established with the objective of analyzing, together with the customer, the impact of non-availability of Siav solutions on Strategic Business Processes, and planning the creation, verification and test of Disaster Recovery procedures.
One of the most important aspects in designing a Business Continuity Plan is taking into consideration the length of time that an organization may not have access to its information systems. An evaluation of this type often proves very complex, because of the many subjective and objective variables at play.
The maximum out-of-service time is normally evaluated by carefully analyzing the business processes involved (Business Impact Analysis).
Many specific activities and tasks can be defined by the Business Continuity Management Service and normally these depend on the level of service to be provided to the customer. The principal activities provided are described below.
Systems analysis and drafting the Business Continuity Plan
This activity analyzes how a serious loss of service involving Siav IT solutions can influence the critical business processes of the Customer. Acceptable times for restoring the system are evaluated and consequently a security infrastructure is designed to guarantee that those times are met. It includes preparing a detailed technical-organizational report, which will be the basis for the later security measures that the client will decide to implement.
Analysis and verification of activated backup procedures
This activity provides analysis and verification of the backup procedures needed to ensure the recovery of full system efficiency in the event of disaster. This type of analysis focuses on defining all data needed for recovery operations, and on verifying the actual content and physical security of backup media.
Drafting Disaster Recovery procedures documentation
This activity provides for finalizing a complete and documented Disaster Recovery Plan together with the customer (a prerequisite for preparing the Business Continuity Plan). On one hand, it describes the infrastructure needed based on the defined down time and on the other hand it lays out precisely the steps needed to complete the recovery procedures.
Assistance in implementing procedures in a test environment
Applying disaster recovery procedures requires a test plan to verify both the actual recovery times and the completeness of the procedures. The Customer plans the tests and they must provide an appropriate environment in which to apply the recovery process. For this type of activity, Siav assistance can be requested, as well as a necessary system support to prepare test reports certifying the procedure and the test environment times.
Assistance in implementing procedures in a production environment
Every customer hopes to never have to use their Disaster Recovery procedure in a production environment, but sometimes this is necessary and surely these activities are not performed as calmly as in the test environment. Siav can be involved in consulting to support the Customer in this very delicate phase, ensuring maximum support and rapid restoration of system operability. If necessary, Siav can supply an On-Site specialized engineering staff.
Consulting in setting up a replicated Disaster Recovery site
In many situations, the Siav systems are so critical for business continuity that it is not possible to entertain stopping machinery for more than a few hours. This brings about the need to prepare a replicated Disaster Recovery site containing an application server (normally inactive), which can be made operational as quickly as possible. Siav provides consulting for preparing the replicated site, supervising the activities implemented and cooperating in drafting the switching and alignment procedures.
Consulting in setting up a High Availability system
For situations in which stringent business continuity requirements will not allow significant stoppages (High Availability System), Siav offers consulting to design the entire solution, including architecture and applications. Solutions in Active/Passive clusters with a replicated site are normally the technologies that are best suited to this type of requirement.
