Disaster Recovery

 

Disaster Recovery : Expert Planning and Implementation Consultants

When properly planned and implemented, a disaster recovery plan makes possible the retrieval of lost data and the resumption of system operations. Such procedures are a critical part of computer operations at all levels, especially those involving the storage of long-term or permanent records on electronic media. A solid disaster recovery plan may also be critical to the fulfillment of audit requirements and the maintenance of audit trails in fiscal systems.

We take a holistic view of a business' critical systems, what risks exist, the likelihood of those risks, and what impacts and recovery times are acceptable to the business. We will produce a risk matrix and identify multiple alternative solutions allowing the business to decide on possible trade-offs between the various factors such as cost and system downtime. We have an abundance of experience in not only identifying risks that were previously unexpected, but also in providing innovative recommendations from migrating to the Cloud to policy and security changes.

One of the requirements of the Sarbanes Oxley Act is that systems containing financial data maintained by a publicly traded company be backed up periodically, that the backup media is stored in a secure off-site location and requires that periodic test be run to prove that financial systems can be recovered from backup in the event a disaster strikes. The purpose of the disaster recovery plan is to provide a means to: (1) restore the integrity of the computer systems in the event of a hardware/software failure or physical disaster, and (2) provide a measure of protection against human error or the inadvertent deletion of important files.

• mile2® shall guide system vendor of client’s choice in the testing of the plan while onsite and provide all guidelines for testing;
• mile2® shall supervise testing of the plan and be involved in any actual testing where client advises once onsite.  
• mile2® shall write a neutral third party audit report on any test results gathered from testing or from vendor testing as directed by client and deliver written report in hardcopy and electronic format, once any drafts of said report are approved by client management.

Phase 1:  Discovery, research and Assess DR options.                        
This Phase includes the on-site observation at the client’s facilities.

Phase 2:  Coordinate installation and create a DR blueprint.
This phase includes typically 5 days of on-site assessment, to create and develop the Disaster Recovery Plan for the client.

Phase 3: Evaluate and Test
This phase will assist with final design, and sign off on suggested implementation/design from equipment/IT vendor on the project as to final level of soundness, security and standards.  The goal is to assist in the final design, project management and sign off of final design prior to implementation of the system by the equipment/IT vendor chosen by the Client.

Questions to Consider: 

• What assets does the client want to secure?
• What critical components must be reproduced?
• What is the amount of down time that is acceptable?
• What is the client budget?
• Review 'warm' and 'hot' site alternatives.

Time Frame:
The project will generally require eight weeks. In addition to this, we will need an additional 3-4 weeks to conduct any final installation work required by any 3^rd party equipment vendor. 

Documentation:
Full documentation of mile2®'s work will be maintained and printouts of such work will be included as part of the final DR & BCP report.  This information should be referenced when reading this report and is considered to be an integral part of the final report . 

Using mile2 for disaster recovery guidance will help your organization through the process of making the best design and implementation decisions based on common business criteria as well as unique needs found in every organization. No design can be a “one size fits all”, so the emphasis of mile2’s disaster recovery consulting is on proven and tested best practice standards for an optimized solution.