Manage

What are the hidden threats, if any, in a disaster recovery (DR)/business continuity (BC) plan?

Harvey Betan explains the hidden threats organizations may encounter in their DR and BC plans in this ask the expert response.

Harvey Betan, Risk Masters, Inc.

Published: 18 Jan 2010

All threats in a disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) plan should be highlighted as part of the risk assessment phase of the BC plan. The risk assessment should incorporate all sites, which includes the disaster recovery site. And if the risk assessment is completed correctly, and an objective view of all threats are identified, there should not be any hidden threats in an organization. However, unanticipated threats can still occur, which are issues that can come up during or part of an unforeseen incident. For example, damage to the infrastructure (road closures) can cause delays in reaching your disaster recovery site, which will affect the recovery time.

Also, if the BC plan is not reviewed properly it may contain incorrect information which can threaten the disaster...

Step 2 of 2:

You forgot to provide an Email Address.

This email address doesn’t appear to be valid.

This email address is already registered. Please log in.

You have exceeded the maximum character limit.

Please provide a Corporate Email Address.
- I agree to TechTarget’s Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and the transfer of my information to the United States for processing to provide me with relevant information as described in our Privacy Policy.
Please check the box if you want to proceed.
- I agree to my information being processed by TechTarget and its Partners to contact me via phone, email, or other means regarding information relevant to my professional interests. I may unsubscribe at any time.
Please check the box if you want to proceed.

recovery process. If the business focus has been modified since the BC plan was compiled and these changes have not been incorporated within the BC plan, the recovery process will not go smoothly. Similarly, if hardware in your company has been modified and you have not updated your DR plan, you may have issues with the recovery. Both the disaster recovery and business continuity plans need to be current to reduce unanticipated surprises.

Lastly, hidden threats may exist if the business continuity plan does not reflect reality. That is, if the business impact analysis (BIA) does not reflect the true impact on the organization, issues may arise. For this reason it is important to be accurate in the BIA looking at dependencies up and down the line to ensure the recovery time objectives (RTOs) are correct.

For more information on disaster recovery and business continuity planning strategies, check out our disaster recovery tutorials, free disaster recovery planning templates and disaster recovery and business continuity podcasts.

Everything CIOs need to know about IT business continuity plans

What is BCDR? Business continuity and disaster recovery guide

Business impact analysis checklist: 10 improvements to your BIA strategy

Natural disaster recovery planning: 4 frequently asked questions

Dig Deeper on Disaster recovery planning - management

Everything CIOs need to know about IT business continuity plans

What is BCDR? Business continuity and disaster recovery guide

Business impact analysis checklist: 10 improvements to your BIA strategy

Natural disaster recovery planning: 4 frequently asked questions

Related Q&A from Harvey Betan

What's the difference between a hot site and cold site for DR?

How does server virtualization affect the way you do disaster recovery?

Business impact analysis tools and what should be in your BIA