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A disaster recovery plan (DRP) - sometimes referred to as a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) or Business Process Contingency Plan (BPCP) - describes how an organization is to deal with potential disasters. Just as a disaster is an event that makes the continuation of normal functions impossible, a disaster recovery plan consists of the precautions taken so that the effects of a disaster will be minimized, and the organization will be able to either maintain or quickly resume mission-critical functions. Typically, disaster recovery planning involves an analysis of business processes and continuity needs; it may also include a significant focus on disaster prevention.
Disaster recovery is becoming an increasingly important aspect of enterprise computing. As devices, systems, and networks become ever more complex, there are simply more things that can go wrong. As a consequence, recovery plans have also become more complex. According to Jon William Toigo (the author of Disaster Recovery Planning), fifteen years ago a disaster recovery plan might consist of powering down a mainframe and other computers in advance of a threat (such as a fire,
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for example, or the sprinkler system), disassembling components, and subsequently drying circuit boards in the parking lot
with a hair dryer. Current enterprise systems tend to be too complicated for such simple and hands-on approaches, however, and interruption of service or loss of data can have serious financial impact, whether directly or through loss of customer confidence.
Appropriate plans vary a great from one enterprise to another, depending on variables such as the type of business, the processes involved, and the level of security needed. Disaster recovery planning may be developed within an organization or purchased as a software application or a service. It is not unusual for an enterprise to spend 25% of its Information Technology (IT) budget on disaster recovery.
For more information about Disaster Recovery Plans, check out search400's Best Web Links on Security.
This was first published in July 2001