In today’s world of globalization, computer networks and computing assets are essential to almost any size business.  Acquiring computers and software has never been more convenient.  Development of work products with computer has been integrated into the way we do business.  Unlike the physical assets of the business, the value of the information created is often difficult to determine until you have to replace it.  And should a disaster occur and your business has not thought ahead of time how to recover from the loss of critical business information, it could spell the end of that business activity, because the cost of replacing it or recovering it is more that the business can absorb.

 

Disasters come in all shapes, sizes and degrees of personal effect.  The more it affects us personally the more devastating a disaster can be.  So even something as simple as loosing a file can be a disaster if it is important to us.  Like disasters, recoveries can come in all shapes, sizes and degrees of personal involvement.  The more we are involved in the process; the more likely personal judgment can become clouded.   Thus having a recovery plan is very important to have been developed before there is a disaster, when minds are calmer and rational thought processes can take place.

 

Recovery Management is a strategic approach to protecting business assets, be they computer data or tangible property that focuses on fast, reliable recovery as the goal of all recovery activities.  For computer data it is the combination of backup, replication, continuous data protection, analysis and reporting, and management services in an integrated solution that delivers higher levels of recovery than any single technology or practice.  For tangible property it is a plan for replacement or alternative use assets that can be used in the recovery process.

 

Recovery management will provide substantial benefits that will give a business or organization greater confidence in their ability to recover regardless of the circumstances.  The strategy will align Information Technology (IT) infrastructure with business objectives.  It will ensure that the business will be able to recover with higher levels of service availability and reduce costs associated with maintenance support and administration of their IT assets.  In other words, the business is available to do business not recovering from some form or another of a disaster.  Developing a recovery management system requires the organization to shift their thought process from isolated information protection technologies to a holistic approach that assures availability, protection, and recovery.

 

Some observations to consider are that system backups simply do not complete successfully most of the time.  What that means is that time and resources are spent troubleshooting backup problems.  Many organizations simply do not test their backup data or recovery procedures.  Even when backups work well, they are not are just not flexible enough for today’s always-on business world.  In contrast a recovery-centric model takes a broader view of protection that is independent of specific technologies.  SESI is a company that has the experience to assist businesses and organizations in the development of a recovery management plan that is tailored to their operational needs.