If you are one of the many companies facing a tight budget for 2009 and looking for ways to improve efficiency, reduce costs and get more from your technology investment….. it may be time to consider Outsourcing or Hosting some or all of your applications or services.

 

 

RPO defines the point in a data stream to which you need to recover information i.e. the maximum amount of data that you could lose if a process is interrupted and later recovered.

 

 

RTO defines how quickly you need to recover failed applications i.e. the period of time in which the organization intends to have the interrupted process running again.

 

 

Maximum Tolerable Dowtime (MTD) is the maximum length of time a business process can be interrupted or available without causing the business to fail. For each process in the BIA you need to determine its maximum tolerable dowtime (MTD).

A Risk Assessment is a multi-step process of identifying and quantifying threats that could disrupt the business’ performance, and determines the probabilities and probable consequences of each threat. A Risk Assessment help determine whether you should ignore a threat, how much you should spend in taking action to reduce a threat, or whether you should plan for the recovery of the operations if the threat occurs.

 

BIA is a detailed inventory of the primary processes, systems, assets, people, and suppliers that are associated with an organization's principle business activities. The core purpose of BIA is to identify which processes and systems are the most critical to the survival of an organization.

Executive Sponsorship is an important component in getting support and understanding of the need for an Enterprise Plan. In most cases, Information Technology bears the brunt of the pressure when a business disruption occurs. While IT is a critical infrastructure component this strategic department cannot ensure the ability of the Enterprise to be successful in a recovery or business continuation mode.

 

Consultive Testing is included with facilities subscription and allows for two-day intensive examination of procedures and current documentation. It is recommended a follow up test be done in 90 days to confirm and modify documentation as needed.

 

 

Web-based documentation - access to critical documentation is available online at all times through secure web access to allow review and updates as needed to keep the document current.

Whether your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is 5GB or on a few sheets of paper, Strategic can review and audit the BCP to ensure critical elements are included and consideration is given to key infrastructure matters. This will help improve likelihood of a successful recovery and can provide “near-real life” disaster experiences to prepare you to mitigate and manage risk.

 

 

 

Colocation allows subscribers to locate hardware at a secure Strategic Data Center and provides for prearranged access for authorized personnel.

 

 

 

Remote backup offers a level of protection for critical data and offers improved data protection.

 

Redundancy provides the greatest level of protection and reduces downtime to minutes. Also eliminates the need to count on media that could be compromised or backups that could be incomplete. Allows for the use of many configuration options to offer the desired level of redundancy.

 

Facilities subscription reduces the amount of downtime due to business disruption and provides immediate access to a secure Strategic Data Center and highly trained technical personnel. Typically a three to five year contract that includes annual testing and a Consultive Test engagement.

 

Testing can be used as an assessment tool to determine readiness and training needs. In the event of a disaster or business disruption this subscription does not provide for use of the Data Center. Business disruptions are not the time to find the gaps in the plan.