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Document and Maintain Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Put your DRP on a diet – keep it fit, trim, and ready for action.

  • Disaster recovery plan (DRP) documentation is often driven by audit or compliance requirements rather than aimed at the team that would need to execute recovery.
  • Between day-to-day IT projects and the difficulty of maintaining 300+ page manuals, DRP documentation is not updated and quickly becomes unreliable.
  • Inefficient publishing strategies result in your DRP not being accessible during disaster or key staff not knowing where to find the latest version.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • DR documentation fails when organizations try to boil the ocean with an all-in-one plan aimed at auditors, business leaders, and IT. It’s too long, too hard to maintain, and ends up being little more than shelf-ware.
  • Using flowcharts, checklists, and diagrams aimed at an IT audience is more concise and effective in a disaster, quicker to create, and easier to maintain.
  • Create your DRP in layers to keep the work manageable. Start with a recovery workflow to ensure a coordinated response, and build out supporting documentation over time.

Impact and Result

  • Create visual and concise DR documentation that strips out unnecessary content and is written for an IT audience – the team that would actually be executing the recovery. Your business leaders can take the same approach to create separate business response plans. Don’t mix the two in an all-in-one plan that is not effective for either audience.
  • Determine a documentation distribution strategy that supports ease of maintenance and accessibility during a disaster.
  • Incorporate DRP maintenance into change management procedures to systematically update and refine the DR documentation. Don’t save up changes for a year-end blitz, which turns document maintenance into an onerous project.

Document and Maintain Your Disaster Recovery Plan Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should adopt a visual-based DRP, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

1. Streamline DRP documentation

Start by documenting your recovery workflow. Create supporting documentation in the form of checklists, flowcharts, topology diagrams, and contact lists. Finally, summarize your DR capabilities in a DRP Summary Document for stakeholders and auditors.

2. Select the optimal DRP publishing strategy

Select criteria for assessing DRP tools, and evaluate whether a business continuity management tool, document management solution, wiki site, or manually distributing documentation is best for your DR team.

3. Keep your DRP relevant through maintenance best practices

Learn how to integrate DRP maintenance into core IT processes, and learn what to look for during testing and during annual reviews of your DRP.


Member Testimonials

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.

9.5/10


Overall Impact

$24,474


Average $ Saved

18


Average Days Saved

Client

Experience

Impact

$ Saved

Days Saved

Ucla Anderson School of Management

Guided Implementation

10/10

$12,999

14

Best part is validating the approach and process when implementing a new ITDR Program into our operational tempo.

Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

10

great team to work with, knowledgeable and always available to assist.

CLDigital

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

N/A

Frank listened to my research needs and followed up on how Infotech is helping. The operational resilience research and blueprint is a high priori... Read More

Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority

Guided Implementation

7/10

$3,000

2

Best :guidance on a big topic with practical steps forward and lots of documentation of next steps. Brilliant email followups. Worst: None

Synergi Partners

Guided Implementation

10/10

$69,299

44

Osage Casinos

Workshop

10/10

$12,599

20

I have nothing but positive things to say about our workshop. We were able to concisely put together most of the pieces of all parts that make up ... Read More

Duquesne University

Workshop

10/10

$123K

105

the best parts of the experience were the workshop facilitator and the engagement with my team members. This was one of the most productive worksho... Read More

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission

Workshop

8/10

N/A

47

Instructor was knowledgeable and supportive. Session was tailored to our needs Over all it added value

Symcor Inc.

Guided Implementation

9/10

N/A

N/A

It was good to connect with Andrew and start this cooperation. I will be able to provide more detailed feedback at the later date as this was onl... Read More

Caesars Windsor

Workshop

9/10

N/A

N/A

Frank & Jimmy have a lot of knowledge and experience and great professionals to work with. Looking forward to work with them on future engagements

Children's Hospital Colorado

Guided Implementation

10/10

$63,667

5

Rotary International

Workshop

10/10

$1.24M

60

Dave and Sharon were captivating from the start. After the completion of the DRP maturity dashboard exercise, our IT managers understood Rotary’s ... Read More

Dakota County Government Center

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

2

Liked the toolset offered. Frank T was also highly knowledgeable on the subject and explained it in clear terms.

Minnesota State and Technical College

Guided Implementation

3/10

$2,037

5

Great assistance with your expert engineers in consulting on our DRP plan. The worst part was balancing all the information given to try to right-... Read More

Clearwater County Alberta

Guided Implementation

9/10

N/A

20

Frank was great to work with. Helped me find resources to complete the documentation quickly and effectively. He also was very understanding with t... Read More

Southwest Care Center

Guided Implementation

10/10

$1.15M

105

Frank was awesome to work with and really helped us keep on track with getting this DRP project completed.

Forsyth Technical Community College

Guided Implementation

8/10

N/A

50

Best - Frank Trovato's advice and assistance getting caught up to where our DR efforts are. He has been very helpful with coming up with ideas and ... Read More

Baldwin Wallace University

Guided Implementation

10/10

$26,103

90

We did a guided implementation of our DR program since we weren't under a mandate. It was something we saw coming and hand time to do the work bef... Read More


Workshop: Document and Maintain Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Streamline DRP Documentation

The Purpose

Teach your team how to create visual-based documentation.

Key Benefits Achieved

Learn how to create visual-based DR documentation.

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Conduct a table-top planning exercise.

1.2

Document your high-level incident response plan.

  • Documented high-level incident response plan
1.3

Identify documentation to include in your playbook.

  • List of documentation action items
1.4

Create an initial collection of supplementary documentation.

  • Collection of 1-3 draft checklists, flowcharts, topology diagrams, and contact lists
1.5

Discuss what further documentation is necessary for recovering from a disaster.

  • Action items for ensuring that the DRP is executable for both primary and backup DR personnel
1.6

Summarize your DR capabilities for stakeholders.

  • DRP Summary Document

Module 2: Select the Optimal DRP Publishing Strategy

The Purpose

Learn the considerations for publishing your DRP.

Key Benefits Achieved

Identify the best strategy for publishing your DRP.

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Select criteria for assessing DRP tools.

2.2

Evaluate categories for DRP tools.

  • Strategy for publishing DRP

Module 3: Learn How to Keep Your DRP Relevant Through Maintenance Best Practices

The Purpose

Address the common pain point of unmaintained DRPs.

Key Benefits Achieved

Create an approach for maintaining your DRP.

Activities

Outputs

3.1

Alter your project intake considerations.

  • Project Intake Form Addendum Template
3.2

Integrate DR considerations into change management.

  • Change Management DRP Checklist Template
3.3

Integrate documentation into performance measurement and performance management.

3.4

Learn best practices for maintaining your DRP.


Document and Maintain Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Put your DRP on a diet – keep it fit, trim, and ready for action.

ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

The traditional disaster recovery plan (DRP) “red binder” is dead. It takes too long to create, it’s too hard to maintain, and it’s not usable in a crisis.

“This blueprint outlines the following key tactics to streamline your documentation effort and produce a better result:

  • Write for an IT audience and focus on how to recover. You don’t need 30 pages of fluff describing the purpose of the document.
  • Use flowcharts, checklists, and diagrams over traditional manuals. This drives documentation that is more concise, easier to maintain, and effective in a crisis.
  • Create your DRP in layers to get tangible results faster, starting with a recovery workflow that outlines your DR strategy, and then build out the specific documentation needed to support recovery.”
(Frank Trovato, Research Director, Infrastructure, Info-Tech Research Group)

This project is about DRP documentation after you have clarified your DR strategy; create these necessary inputs first

These artifacts are the cornerstone for any disaster recovery plan.

  • Business Impact Analysis
  • DR Roles and Responsibilities
  • Recovery Workflow

Missing a component? Start here. ➔ Create a Right-Sized Disaster Recovery Plan

This blueprint walks you through building these inputs.
Our approach saves clients on average US$16,825.22. (Clients self-reported an average saving of US$16,869.21 while completing the Create a Right-Sized Disaster Recovery Plan blueprint through advisory calls, guided implementations, or workshops (Info-Tech Research Group, 2017, N=129).)

How this blueprint will help you document your DRP

This Research is Designed For:

  • IT managers in charge of disaster recovery planning (DRP) and execution.
  • Organizations seeking to optimize their DRP using best-practice methodology.
  • Business continuity professionals that are involved with disaster recovery.

This Research Will Help You:

  • Divide the process of creating DR documentation into manageable chunks, providing a defined scope for you to work in.
  • Identify an appropriate DRP document management and distribution strategy.
  • Ensure that DR documentation is up to date and accessible.

This Research Will Also Assist:

  • IT managers preparing for a DR audit.
  • IT managers looking to incorporate components of DR into an IT operations document.

This Research Will Help Them:

  • Follow a structured approach in building DR documentation using best practices.
  • Integrate DR into day-to-day IT operations.

Executive summary

Situation

  • DR documentation is often driven by audit or compliance requirements, rather than aimed at the team that would need to execute recovery.
  • Traditional DRPs are text-heavy, 300+ page manuals that are simply not usable in a crisis.
  • Compounding the problem, DR documentation is rarely updated, so it’s just shelf-ware.

Complication

  • DRP is often given lower priority as day-to-day IT projects displace DR documentation efforts.
  • Inefficient publishing strategies result in your DRP not being accessible during disasters or key staff not knowing where to find the latest version.
  • Organizations that create traditional DRPs end up with massive manuals that are difficult to maintain, so they quickly become unreliable.

Resolution

  • Create visual and concise DR documentation that strips out unnecessary content and is written for an IT audience – the team that would actually be executing the recovery. Your business leaders can take the same approach to create separate business response plans – don’t mix the two into an all-in-one plan that is not effective for either audience.
  • Determine a documentation distribution strategy that supports ease of maintenance and accessibility during a disaster.
  • Incorporate DRP maintenance into change management and project intake procedures to systematically update and refine the DR documentation. Don’t save up changes for a year-end blitz, which turns document maintenance into an onerous project.

Info-Tech Insight

  1. DR documentation fails when organizations try to boil the ocean with an all-in-one plan aimed at auditors, business leaders, and IT. It’s too long, too hard to maintain, and ends up being little more than shelf-ware.
  2. Using flowcharts, checklists, and diagrams aimed at an IT audience is more concise and effective in a disaster, quicker to create, and easier to maintain.
  3. Create your DRP in layers to keep the work manageable. Start with a recovery workflow to ensure a coordinated response, and build out supporting documentation over time.

An effective DRP that mitigates a wide range of potential outages is critical to minimizing the impact of downtime

The criticality of having an effective DRP is underestimated.

Cost of Downtime for the Fortune 1000
  • Cost of unplanned apps downtime per year: $1.25B to $2.5B
  • Cost of critical apps failure per hour: $500,000 to $1M
  • Cost of infrastructure failure per hour: $100,000
  • 35% reported to have recovered within 12 hours.
  • 17% of infrastructure failures took more than 24 hours to recover.
  • 13% of application failures took more than 24 hours to recover.
Size of Impact Increasing Across Industries
  • The cost of downtime is rising across the board and not just for organizations that traditionally depend on IT (e.g. e-commerce).
  • Downtime cost increase since 2010:
    • Hospitality: 129% increase
    • Transportation: 108% increase
    • Media organizations: 104% increase
Potential Lost Revenue
A line graph of Potential Lost Revenue with vertical axis 'LOSS ($)' and horizontal axis 'TIME'. The line starts with low losses near the origin where 'Incident Occurs', gradually accelerates to higher losses as time passes, then decelerates before 'All Revenue Lost'. Note: 'Delay in recovery causes exponential revenue loss'.
(Adapted from: Rothstein, Philip Jan. Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan (2007 Edition).)

The impact of downtime increases significantly over time, not just in terms of lost revenue (as illustrated here) but also goodwill/reputation and health/safety. An effective DR solution and overall resiliency that mitigate a wide range of potential outages are critical to minimizing the impact of downtime.

Without an effective DRP, your organization is gambling on being able to define and implement a recovery strategy during a time of crisis. At the very least, this means extended downtime – potentially weeks – and substantial impact.

Only 38% of those with a full or mostly complete DRP believe their DRPs would be effective in a real crisis

Organizations continue to struggle with creating DRPs, let alone making them actionable.

Why are so many living with either an incomplete or ineffective DRP? For the same reasons that IT documentation in general continues to be a pain point:

  • It is an outdated model of what documentation should be – the traditional manual with detailed (lengthy) descriptions and procedures.
  • Despite the importance of DR, low priority is placed on creating a DRP and the day-to-day SOPs required to support a recovery.
  • There is a lack of effective processes for ensuring documentation stays up to date.
A bar graph documenting percentages of survey responses about the completeness of their DRP. 'Only 20% of survey respondents indicated they have a complete DRP'. 13% said 'No DRP'. 33% said 'Partial DRP'. 34% said 'Mostly Completed'. 20% said 'Full DRP'.
(Source: Info-Tech Research Group, N=165)
A bar graph documenting percentages of survey responses about the level of confidence in their DRP. 'Only 38% of those who have a mostly completed or full DRP actually feel it would be effective in a crisis'. 4% said 'Low'. 58% said 'Unsure'. 38% said 'Confident'.
(Source: Info-Tech Research Group, N=69 (includes only those who indicated DRP is mostly completed or completed))

Improve usability and effectiveness with visual-based and more-concise documentation

Choose flowcharts over process guides, checklists over lengthy procedures, and diagrams over descriptions.

If you need a three-inch binder to hold your DRP, imagine having to flip through it to determine next steps during a crisis.

DR documentation needs to be concise, scannable, and quickly understood to be effective. Visual-based documentation meets these requirements, so it’s no surprise that it also leads to higher DR success.

DR success scores are based on:

  • Meeting recovery time objectives (RTOs).
  • Meeting recovery point objectives (RPOs).
  • IT staff’s confidence in their ability to meet RTOs/RPOs.
A line graph of DR documentation types and their effectiveness. The vertical axis is 'DR Success', from Low to High. The horizontal axis is Documentation Type, from 'Traditional Manual' to 'Primarily flowcharts, checklists, and diagrams'. The line trends up to higher success with visual-based and more-concise documentation.(Source: Info-Tech Research Group, N=95)

“Without question, 300-page DRPs are not effective. I mean, auditors love them because of the detail, but give me a 10-page DRP with contact lists, process flows, diagrams, and recovery checklists that are easy to follow.” (Bernard Jones, MBCI, CBCP, CORP, Manager Disaster Recovery/BCP, ActiveHealth Management)

Maintainability is another argument for visual-based, concise documentation

There are two end goals for your DR documentation: effectiveness and maintainability. Without either, you will not have success during a disaster.

Organizations using a visual-based approach were 30% more likely to find that DR documentation is easy to maintain. “Easy to maintain” leads to a 46% higher rate of DR success.
Two bar graphs documenting survey responses regarding maintenance ease of DR documentation types. The first graph compares Traditional Manual vs Visual-based. For 'Traditional Manual' 72% responded they were Difficult to maintain while 28% responded they were Easy to maintain; for 'Visual-based' 42% responded they were Difficult to maintain while 58% responded they were Easy to maintain. Visual-based DR documentation received 30% more votes for Easy to Maintain. The second graph compares success rates of 'Difficult to Maintain' vs 'Easy to Maintain' DR documentation with Difficult being 31% and Easy being 77%, a 46% difference. 'Source: Info-Tech Research Group, N=96'.

Not only are visual-based disaster recovery plans more effective, but they are also easier to maintain.

Overcome documentation inertia with a tiered model that allows you to eat the elephant one bite at a time

Start with a recovery workflow to at least ensure a coordinated response. Then use that workflow to determine required supporting documentation.

Recovery Workflow: Starting the project with overly detailed documentation can slow down the entire process. Overcome planning inertia by starting with high-level incident response plans in a flowchart format. For examples and additional information, see XMPL Medical’s Recovery Workflows.

Recovery Procedures (Systems Recovery Playbook): For each step in the high-level flowchart, create recovery procedures where necessary using additional flowcharts, checklists, and diagrams as appropriate. Leverage Info-Tech’s Systems Recovery Playbook example as a starting point.

Additional Reference Documentation: Reference existing IT documentation, such as network diagrams and configuration documents, as well as more detailed step-by-step procedures where necessary (e.g. vendor documentation), particularly where needed to support alternate recovery staff who may not be as well versed as the primary system owners.

Info-Tech Insight

Organizations that use flowcharts, checklist, and diagrams over traditional, dense DRP manuals are far more likely to meet their RTOs/RPOs because their documentation is more usable and easier to maintain.

Use a DRP summary document to satisfy executives, auditors, and clients

Stakeholders don’t have time to sift through a pile of paper. Summarize your overall continuity capabilities in one, easy-to-read place.

DRP Summary Document

  • Summarize BIA results
  • Summarize DR strategy (including DR sites)
  • Summarize backup strategy
  • Summarize testing and maintenance plans

Follow Info-Tech’s methodology to make DRP documentation efficient and effective

Phases

Phase 1: Streamline DRP documentation Phase 2: Select the optimal DRP publishing strategy Phase 3: Keep your DRP relevant through maintenance best practices

Phases

1.1

Start with a recovery workflow

2.1

Decide on a publishing strategy

3.1

Incorporate DRP maintenance into core IT processes

1.2

Create supporting DRP documentation

3.2

Conduct an annual focused review

1.3

Write the DRP Summary

Tools and Templates

End-to-End Sample DRP DRP Publishing Evaluation Tool Project In-take/Request Form

Change Management Checklist

Follow XMPL Medical’s journey through DR documentation

CASE STUDY

Industry Healthcare
Source Created by amalgamating data from Info-Tech’s client base

Streamline your documentation and maintenance process by following the approach outlined in XMPL Medical’s journey to an end-to-end DRP.

Outline of the Disaster Recovery Plan

XMPL’s disaster recovery plan includes its business impact analysis and a subset of tier 1 and tier 2 patient care applications.

Its DRP includes incident response flowcharts, system recovery checklists, and a communication plan. Its DRP also references IT operations documentation (e.g. asset management documents, system specs, and system configuration docs), but this material is not published with the example documentation.

Resulting Disaster Recovery Plan

XMPL’s DRP includes actionable documents in the form of high-level disaster response plan flowcharts and system recovery checklists. During an incident, the DR team is able to clearly see the items for which they are responsible.

Disaster Recovery Plan
  • Recovery Workflow
  • Business Impact Analysis
  • DRP Summary
  • System Recovery Checklists
  • Communication, Assessment, and Disaster Declaration Plan

Info-Tech Best Practice

XMPL Medical’s disaster recovery plan illustrates an effective DRP. Model your end-to-end disaster recovery plan after XMPL’s completed templates. The specific data points will differ from organization to organization, but the structure of each document will be similar.

Model your disaster recovery documentation off of our example

CASE STUDY

Industry Healthcare
Source Created by amalgamating data from Info-Tech’s client base

Recovery Workflow:

  • Recovery Workflows (PDF, VSDX)

Recovery Procedures (Systems Recovery Playbook):

  • DR Notification, Assessment, and Disaster Declaration Plan
  • Systems Recovery Playbook
  • Network Topology Diagrams

Additional Reference Documentation:

  • DRP Workbook
  • Business Impact Analysis
  • DRP Summary Document

Use Info-Tech’s DRP Maturity Scorecard to evaluate your progress

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

Guided Implementation

Workshop

Consulting

"Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful." "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track." "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place." "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project."

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Document and Maintain Your Disaster Recovery Plan – Project Overview

1. Streamline DRP Documentation 2. Select the Optimal DRP Publishing Strategy 3. Keep Your DRP Relevant
Supporting Tool icon
Best-Practice Toolkit

1.1 Start with a recovery workflow

1.2 Create supporting DRP documentation

1.3 Write the DRP summary

2.1 Create Committee Profiles

3.1 Build Governance Structure Map

3.2 Create Committee Profiles

Guided Implementations
  • Review Info-Tech’s approach to DRP documentation.
  • Create a high-level recovery workflow.
  • Create supporting DRP documentation.
  • Write the DRP summary.
  • Identify criteria for selecting a DRP publishing strategy.
  • Select a DRP publishing strategy.
  • Optional: Select requirements for a BCM tool and issue an RFP.
  • Optional: Review responses to RFP.
  • Learn best practices for integrating DRP maintenance into day-to-day IT processes.
  • Learn best practices for DRP-focused reviews.
Associated Activity icon
Onsite Workshop
Module 1:
Streamline DRP documentation
Module 2:
Select the optimal DRP publishing strategy
Module 3:
Learn best practices for keeping your DRP relevant
Phase 1 Outcome:
  • A complete end-to-end DRP
Phase 2 Outcome:
  • Selection of a publishing and management tool for your DRP documentation
Phase 3 Outcome:
  • Strategy for maintaining your DRP documentation

Workshop Overview Associated Activity icon

Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

Workshop Day 1 Workshop Day 2 Workshop Day 3 Workshop Day 4 Workshop Day 5
Info-Tech Analysts Finalize Deliverables
Activities
Assess DRP Maturity and Review Current Capabilities

0.1 Assess current DRP maturity through Info-Tech’s Maturity Scorecard.

0.2 Identify the IT systems that support mission-critical business activities, and select 2 or 3 key applications to be the focus of the workshop.

0.3 Identify current recovery strategies for selected applications.

0.4 Identify current DR challenges for selected applications.

Document Your Recovery Workflow

1.1 Create a recovery workflow: review tabletop planning, walk through DR scenarios, identify DR gaps, and determine how to fill them.

Create Supporting Documentation

1.2 Create supporting DRP documentation.

1.3 Write the DRP summary.

Establish a DRP Publishing, Management, and Maintenance Strategy

2.1 Decide on a publishing strategy.

3.1 Incorporate DRP maintenance into core IT.

3.2 Considerations for reviewing your DRP regularly.

Deliverables
  1. Baseline DRP metric (based on DRP Maturity Scorecard)
  1. High-level DRP workflow
  2. DRP gaps and risks identified
  1. Recovery workflow and/or checklist for sample of IT systems
  2. Customized DRP Summary Template
  1. Strategy for selecting a DRP publishing tool
  2. DRP management and maintenance strategy
  3. Workshop summary presentation deck

Workshop Goal: Learn how to document and maintain your DRP.

Use these icons to help direct you as you navigate this research

Use these icons to help guide you through each step of the blueprint and direct you to content related to the recommended activities.

A small monochrome icon of a wrench and screwdriver creating an X.

This icon denotes a slide where a supporting Info-Tech tool or template will help you perform the activity or step associated with the slide. Refer to the supporting tool or template to get the best results and proceed to the next step of the project.

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This icon denotes a slide with an associated activity. The activity can be performed either as part of your project or with the support of Info-Tech team members, who will come onsite to facilitate a workshop for your organization.


Phase 1: Streamline DRP Documentation

Step 1.1: Start with a recovery workflow

PHASE 1
PHASE 2
PHASE 3
1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 3.1 3.2
Start with a Recovery Workflow Create Supporting Documentation Write the DRP Summary Select DRP Publishing Strategy Integrate into Core IT Processes Conduct an Annual Focused Review

This step will walk you through the following activities:

  • Review a model DRP.
  • Review your recovery workflow.
  • Identify documentation required to support the recovery workflow.

This step involves the following participants:

  • DRP Owner
  • System SMEs
  • Alternate DR Personnel

Outcomes of this step

  • Understanding the visual-based, concise approach to DR documentation.
  • Creating a recovery workflow that provides a roadmap for coordinating incident response and identifying required supporting documentation.

Info-Tech Insights

A DRP is a collection of procedures and supporting documents that allow an organization to recover its IT services to minimize system downtime for the business.

Document and Maintain Your Disaster Recovery Plan preview picture

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

MEMBER RATING

9.5/10
Overall Impact

$24,474
Average $ Saved

18
Average Days Saved

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve.

Read what our members are saying

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

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Guided Implementation 1: Streamline DRP documentation
  • Call 1: Review Info-Tech’s approach to DRP documentation.
  • Call 2: Create a high-level recovery workflow.
  • Call 3: Create supporting DRP documentation.
  • Call 4: Write the DRP summary.

Guided Implementation 2: Select the optimal DRP publishing strategy
  • Call 1: Identify criteria for selecting a DRP publishing strategy.
  • Call 2: Select a DRP publishing strategy.
  • Call 3: Optional: Select requirements for a BCM tool and issue an RFP.
  • Call 4: Optional: Review responses to RFP.

Guided Implementation 3: Keep your DRP relevant through maintenance best practices
  • Call 1: Learn best practices for integrating DRP maintenance into day-to-day IT processes.
  • Call 2: Learn best practices for DRP-focused reviews.

Authors

Frank Trovato

Ken Weston

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