Disaster Recovery Is Critical For Enterprise Survival

26/7 exposed not only the government’s laxity in having a concrete backup plan, but also the ill preparedness of organisations in having the right infrastructure to protect data loss, which eventually resulted in businesses losing a lot of money and time.

Two years down the line, have Indian enterprises realised the importance of having a disaster recovery/business continuity plan? Although the answer to this is in the positive, there are still some concerns associated with establishing such a process.

Biztech 2.0 spoke to Chinar Deshpande, CIO, Pantaloons and Satish Pendse, CIO, Hindustan Construction Company in order to gain a better insight as to what goes into having a concrete disaster recovery/ business continuity strategy.

More from Biztech

Future Group - Reliance Retail Deal approved by CCI RBI ban on cryptocurrencies takes effect; prohibition could force investors to tap the black market

Disaster Recovery/ Business Continuity, a top priority?

“It has become critical to realise that a company’s core strength lies in the information stored on its databases and networks. A business can be completely crippled by a loss of information,” said Chinar Deshpande.

Satish Pendse echoed the same viewpoint, “With IT becoming a part of mission critical business infrastructure, the need for disaster management (preventive as well as reactive) is business critical. One however needs to stay away from the hype and remained focused on business requirements. For example, the disaster recovery requirements for banks, airlines etc. will have to be at one level and those for industries such as Construction, Pharma, FMCG etc. needs to be at a different level.”

Both Deshpande and Pendse emphasised that disaster recovery/business continuity planning should be a top priority for companies.

“Even if an enterprise does not want to have an elaborate disaster recovery strategy, it should be in a position to have all it’s data backed up and placed at mirror sites, where the data can be safe from damage. This according to me would be a basic setup,” stressed Deshpande.

Deshpande further mentioned that it’s also important to have a parallel site that can be extremely useful, when primary infrastructure is down. These sites should be constantly updated with any changes made to the primary infrastructure. These setups are moreover useful in situations where a business cannot afford to go offline. In case of a disaster, the parallel sites can then be used as operation centres for the business.

Developing a disaster recovery strategy

Pendse touched upon some basic points considered by HCC while coming up with a disaster recovery strategy. “Since IT Infrastructure has become mission critical we can’t afford to take chances. We made elaborate arrangements. The arrangements were tested during 26th July, when our IT systems were up and running throughout.

The architecture of the infrastructure is made in a fairly redundant manner. We also make sure that we have sufficient back-ups in the form of different communication media. Besides UPS, we also have generators with sufficient fuel availability. Thus in case of a calamity, systems will still be online for a period of time sufficient for the necessary backups.”

Pendse also mentioned that their IT teams are trained to handle disasters and the members are provided with the required contact details. Adequate arrangements are also made for team members’ stay, in case they are unable to move out due to crisis.

Pendse also spoke briefly about a few points that CIOs must keep in mind while coming up with a disaster recovery/ business continuity process.

CIOs must discuss and reach an agreement with business regarding the risks that the business wants to protect and the costs of protecting the risks. It is also important to have a detailed action plan and meticulous execution.

Also, having a process and procedure to regularly test the plans is vital. Mock drills may be helpful in these situations. Documentation, easy availability of the same, identification of responsibilities with the main person and alternate person are some of the other important aspects of disaster recovery.

In a nutshell, instead of just technological investments, one needs to focus holistically on the process and people when it comes down to implementing a successful disaster recovery / business continuity strategy.

Convincing the management: A tough job

Interestingly enough, both Deshpande and Pendse spoke about the same pain points that they experienced while implementing a disaster recovery plan.

According to them, one of the biggest pain-points one can experience with regards to a disaster recovery strategy is convincing the management of its feasibility. Considering disaster recovery plans are long term plans, sometimes it becomes difficult for management to realise their importance.

“Secondly, getting the clearance on cost associated with disaster recovery projects is also a major pain-point. Referring to the above mentioned point of management not prioritising on disaster recovery, it is also difficult for us to convince them of clearing the cost associated with the initiative. Hence, this is another obstacle that sometimes rears its face in the case of disaster recovery/ business continuity.”

It is also a challenge to find the right people to maintain disaster recovery plans, asserted Deshpande. According to Pendse, this is a somewhat “boring” job. One therefore tends to ignore it, till the point when it is too late. Thus, having a stable team for disaster recovery can sometimes pose a problem.

Transforming theory into practice

Deshpande accentuated that disaster recovery isn’t just about having a plan and strategy in place. People of an organisation need to be prepared in case disaster strikes. If people are unaware of their roles, there will be utter chaos, and all the disaster recovery plans will be washed down the drain. Transitioning from theory to practice is imperative in case of disaster recovery.

The key to a successful disaster recovery/business continuity strategy is to do a periodic review and check with business to reconfirm the assumptions on which the entire plan is based. Creating and maintaining the awareness on an ongoing basis can’t be ignored, concluded Pendse.