Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to help identify the issues surrounding the process of developing a disaster recovery and business continuity plan. That is considering the role this plan plays in helping a business to get back on its feet after experiencing a disaster of any nature. The fact that businesses irrespective of nature and size are susceptible to disaster means that a company has to invest in recovery from the same and ensure prompt continuity of business operations. In this case, the focus will be on how the lack of a proper communication plan affects the development of reliable disaster recovery and business continuity framework.  Additionally, it will be essential to identify reliable sources that will give information concerning this issue and how it can be solved.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning

Introduction

Dealing with disasters and getting a business back on track after experiencing a disaster of any nature can be overwhelming, especially if the right measures are not put in place.  In that case, it becomes important to develop a disaster recovery and business continuity plan to ensure that a company operates normally during and after a disaster. For starters, disaster recovery refers to the efforts that are put in helping a business get back on track after experiencing a disaster. Business continuity, on the one hand, refers to the capability of an organization to maintain vital operations during and after dealing with a disaster. In that case, the two are interrelated in that they ensure a company’s welfare is prioritized as disaster is inevitable, and therefore a reliable plan should be developed beforehand. Communication is vital in developing a disaster recovery and business continuity plan, considering that it contributes to the efficiency and implementation of that plan as well as keeping up with the current trends in the business world. In that case, determining the issues that are likely to develop due to poor communication in planning disaster recovery and business continuity structure is important.

Communication is crucial in any setting, which makes it more significant the moment matters related to disaster are involved. According to Peterson and Kirvan (2018), to help realize success in disaster recovery and business continuity, communicating has to be done effectively and timely between the relevant parties. These include the business that experiences a disaster and the emergency coordinators involved in the recovery process. If a company has no disaster recovery plan, it means that it does not have an emergency coordinator to run to once it becomes affected by a disaster. Therefore, that makes it important to develop a plan from day one of starting a business though it depends on the risks a business is exposed to as they differ based on the nature of business. Once a business develops a relationship with the relevant institutions to respond to their disaster emergencies, it becomes important to create an emergency communication plan which comes in handy when a disaster strikes.

The need to communicate the moment a disaster strikes is instant, and if those that are expected to respond are not in good terms with those seeking intervention, it means that a business is likely to experience a lot of losses (The Department of Homeland Security, 2016). In that case, communication plays a crucial role in disaster recovery and business continuity as it is through this process that an applicable plan becomes developed. According to the Department of Homeland Security (2016), communication is an essential component of the preparedness program in any business setup and should, therefore, be taken seriously. The lack of a proper communication plan when addressing disaster and embarking on the recovery journey to ensure business continuity is worrying. That is because it brings everything that needs to be done to a standstill. After all, no progress is achieved in developing the relevant plans. Information should be relayed promptly and accurately as well as with a lot of confidence to help create a plan that is reliable in case a business gets affected by a disaster. Therefore, that means that communication cannot be left out and should, therefore, be prioritized to avoid unnecessary setbacks when trying to achieve the set goals concerning disaster recovery, which ensures business continuity.

Through communication, the main goals of creating disaster recovery and business continuity plan become identified. In that case, that would involve having the contact information of establishments and disaster recovery squads that can respond timely to avoid further damage and provide a way forward. In that case, solving the issue of communication in a company works in its favor as it is assured that the developed plan in disaster recovery and business continuity is relevant and can come in handy in solving disaster issues once they strike. Dealing with the issue of communication in developing a disaster recovery and business continuity is not an easy task. That is because it requires the corporation of everyone involved, and if they do not agree upon particular issues, it means going back to the drawing to come up with new ideas. That is likely to take a lot of time, and if a disaster strikes before a good plan is created, it means that a business is exposed to unnecessary risks. In that case, ensuring that communication in crucial matters such as developing a disaster recovery and business continuity plan is outlined correctly is important to avoid wasting time in one area, thus creating time for other developments.

Review of the Literature

According to Chandrasekhar (2010), providing information to stakeholders concerning any type of disaster concerning a business requires a crisis communication plan. Therefore, that shows the extent to which communication is vital in disaster recovery and business continuity. In the wake of technological advancements, it has become easy to communicate in case a business experiences a disruption of any kind. The business can decide to engage the media in helping it to recover from disaster, especially those that have to with its reputation. Disasters come in various forms, which could as well involve cyberattacks, and for a company to recover from reputational damage, it can use the media to help it retain its good name. In that case, communication has been made easy by technology as a company can reach out to the relevant institutions to solve its disaster problem even though they do not have prior relationships or engagements.  Either way, once a company identifies the types of disasters it is vulnerable to, it can quickly identify the kind of interventions they need in case these disasters strike. Therefore, they have an idea of who to engage and communicate with regarding the recovery from that disaster and how to ensure the continuity of business. In this case, this source is relevant to the topic because it sheds light on how a company can achieve business continuity after a disaster by engaging modern strategies that involve technology. That means that if there are communication issues internally, a company can still recover from a disaster by engaging external measures that easily apply.

According to Ghormley (2008), the speed at which a disaster becomes communicated determines the rate at which a business recovers and gets back to its regular routines. For starters, with a reliable plan, a business can run its operations normally during and after a crisis, which can be attributed to efficient communication. Depending on the nature of business and the risks it is exposed to, a company might opt to go digital with matters related to disaster recovery and business continuity, which involves communication through websites (Ghormley, 2008). Companies with high operational risks have adopted strategies such as dark sites that give an alert in case a disaster is about to strike. That means that they have adopted modern platforms of dealing with disasters, which is a plan that also helps in solving communications issues as once these systems are set up, they are ready to serve their purpose without being monitored all the time. Therefore, it is evident that technology is taking over formal communication strategies that are likely to fail, especially if there are underlying issues between parties. That makes this source relevant as it gives information necessary for dealing with the issue of communication in planning for disaster recovery and business continuity.

According to Gibb and Buchanan (2006), the moment communication becomes delegated to a single person in an organization, it becomes cumbersome for them, thus affecting their effectiveness in this role. In that case, to help solve this problem mostly concerning communication in disaster recovery and business continuity planning, an organization should adopt a tool known as the Call Tree (Gibb & Buchanan, 2006). With this tool, communicating any type of information, especially in times of a crisis, come in handy. That is because a single employee becomes assigned a group of other employees to which they relay a specific message. Therefore, it makes communication easy, and accountability and efficiency become achieved, which is crucial in planning for disaster recovery and business continuity. In an organization, a disaster might affect only a few individuals or departments, which does not necessarily require the involvement of everyone in the workplace. Therefore, with the use of the call tree, only the affected individuals in specific areas will be contacted, which ensures business continuity in other areas of the business. The issue of communication in planning for disaster recovery and business, therefore, gets solved without much effort, which makes this source relevant to the topic in question. That is because it helps in solving the communication issue that is likely to interfere with the process of creating a plan for recovering from disaster and business continuity.

According to Page (2006), a company can create the best disaster recovery and business continuity plan, but if it lacks a proper means of communication, that plan is rendered null and void. That, therefore, shows the importance of communication in business in running operations during a disaster and getting back on its feet after dealing with a disaster. Having a reliable communication plan in dealing with disaster reduces the rate at which a business experiences disasters (Page, 2006). In that case, communication can as well count as a preventive measure of disaster in that by reporting any signs or probability of their occurrence, the necessary precautions are taken as outlined in disaster recovery and business continuity structure that gets developed. Additionally, it is through communication that dealing with unexpected disasters is made easy and achievable. That is because those responsible for communication have time to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate the essential measure to deal with the situation. Without a communication plan in place, a preventable situation is likely to cause havoc, thus the need to be prepared. With this source, the emphasis has been put on the need for proper communication in developing a plan for disaster recovery and business continuity, which therefore makes it relevant. What I have learned from this source is that a company can have the best disaster and business continuity plan, but if it lacks to communicate efficiently, it has no difference with a company with no plan.

According to Kirk (2019), most companies overlook the need or have an underdeveloped communication plan forgetting the role it plays in disaster recovery and business continuity. Both internal and external stakeholders require to be updated often concerning the plan a company has in dealing with disaster to assure them their investments are secure.  Depending on the equipment and systems that a company uses, it should consider a communication plan that works efficiently in developing a plan for disaster recovery and business continuity (Kirk, 2019). Without communication or having a poor communication plan exposes a business to unnecessary risks and interruptions, both internally and externally. Therefore, that makes it difficult to recover from disaster and enforce business continuity as there is no guidance on the processes that need to be followed. An organization has the responsibility of identifying or instead specializing in communication, meaning that it has to have a reliable team to handle this particular area. Therefore, this source is relevant to the topic as it addresses the issue of communication and how it should be handled to achieve recovery from disaster and continuity in business without much struggle. What I learned from this source is that delegating the role of communication to a specific team can help in working efficiently towards utilizing the developed plans.

Discussion

Disaster recovery and business continuity go hand in hand, meaning that one issue interferes with both of them equally. Therefore, the issue of communication affects the planning of disaster recovery and business continuity, which is vital to any company. Either way, solving the issue of communication can easily be achieved by engaging the right measures and taking the necessary precautions. Technology has proven to be one of the major solutions to this problem as it has come in handy in various situations. According to Chandrasekhar (2010), using the media to communicate in case of a disaster strikes saves a company a lot of time and resources. That is especially if the disaster involves the process of redeeming the reputation of a brand after being tainted. In that case, the choice of strategy for disaster recovery and business continuity lies within the option of a communication plan that a company chooses. The other source that emphasizes on incorporating technology in developing this plan is by Ghormley, (2008). According to this source, a company can choose digital platforms that communicate regarding the disaster, which, as they require minimal supervision and are as well efficient. That is, considering that dealing with people can be cumbersome, which exposes any business to the risk of experiencing disasters.

The issue of communication in developing a disaster recovery and business continuity plan can as well be solved by delegating the role of communication to specific individuals who are responsible for a certain team. According to Gibb and Buchanan (2006), leaving the responsibility of communication in developing this plan to a single person can be overburdening, meaning that the plan might become unsuccessful in the long run. With this source, it is clear that everything is not up to technology to solve the communication issue as long as a company delegates that responsibility to reliable and qualified personnel and with the right tools such as the call tree. Page (2016) is clear on the fact that the lack of a communication plan can render the best disaster recovery and business continuity useless. That, therefore, means that any issues with communication should be solved promptly to ensure the set goals are achieved without unnecessary setbacks. Kirk (2019) is as well clear on the risks that a business becomes exposed to due to the lack of a reliable communication plan in developing a disaster recovery and business continuity framework. Solving this issue, therefore, requires guidance on the processes that need to be followed in creating this plan, which involves communication entirely. The question that remains about this topic that these sources do not answer is why a company would risk not having a communication plan in developing a disaster recovery and business continuity structure considering how much it helps in getting back on track.

Conclusion

Understanding that disasters are inevitable in any business irrespective of size or nature is the beginning of developing a structure to help recover from those disasters when they strike and ensuring the continuity of business. Either way, when it comes to creating a reliable framework to deal with a disaster, various challenges become experienced, which include lack of a proper communication plan.  Communication is the central point of planning for disaster recovery and continuity of business and should, therefore, be taken seriously. Every company is responsible for the choices that are made concerning communication, which could involve technology or delegation of this role to a specific team under an assigned leader. That means that an organization is at liberty to choose how to handle communication when it comes to disaster as long as it serves the intended purpose.

Recovering from a disaster can take a while if the relevant parties are not in good terms, which affects the continuity of business in the long run. Understanding that communication is as well a preventive measure against disaster can help companies to invest in reliable communication plans, which help in saving time and resources. The sources used in this paper have contributed massively towards understanding the issue of communication in planning for disaster recovery and business continuity. Therefore, it has become clear that communication should be taken seriously, and the company should identify the best structure that works for it based on the nature of business and the risks involved. Technology has appeared to be the preferable solution for dealing with the issue of communication in disaster recovery and business continuity, as it offers a variety of platforms to utilize. These include dark sites that give an alert in case a disaster is about to strike, thus ensuring business continuity and the use of media to help recover from disasters, mostly those that affect the reputation of a company.

References

Ghormley, Y.. (2008). Business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Handbook of Research on Information Security and Assurance. 308-319.

Gibb, F., & Buchanan, S. (2006). A framework for business continuity management. International journal of information management, 26(2), 128-141.

Kirk, C. (2019, March 12). How To Crisis Communication During Disaster Recovery. Retrieved from Light Edge: https://www.lightedge.com/blog/how-to-crisis-communication-during-disaster-recovery/

Page, D. (2006, May 5). Crisis communications and disaster response. Retrieved from Continuity Central: https://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0339.htm

Peterson, S., & Kirvan, P. (2018, September 11). Developing an emergency communications plan: A template for business continuity planners. Retrieved from TechTarget: https://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/Developing-an-emergency-communications-plan-A-template-for-business-continuity-planners

Chandrasekhar, Divya. (2010). Understanding stakeholder participation in post-disaster recovery (case study: Nagapattinam, India).

The Department of Homeland Security. (2016, January 21). Crisis Communications Plan. Retrieved from Ready.gov: https://www.ready.gov/business/implementation/crisis

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