Disaster recovery plan

A documented, tested process for restoring IT systems, applications and data after a major disruption such as a ransomware attack, hardware failure, fire or flood.

A disaster recovery plan is the technical companion to a business continuity plan. It spells out which systems must be restored first, where backups are stored, who is responsible for each step and how long recovery should take. Two common targets are the recovery time objective (how quickly a system must be back) and the recovery point objective (how much recent data you can afford to lose).

Without a plan, recovery tends to be slower and more expensive, with key decisions made under pressure. Alberta businesses have seen how quickly events like wildfires, floods and extended outages can affect operations, and cyberattacks can take systems down just as suddenly. A plan also helps you set realistic expectations with clients, insurers and staff.

Practical tip: test the plan, not just the backups. Run a simple exercise at least once a year where you restore a critical system, such as your file server or line-of-business application, and time how long it takes. Update the plan based on what you learn.