What is a Technology Recovery Plan?
A technology recovery plan (TRP) is a documented process for recovering an organization’s critical information technology infrastructure and systems following a disaster or disruption. The purpose of a TRP is to minimize downtime and data loss in the event of a major incident like a cyber attack, data breach, or natural disaster.
According to the State Administrative Manual, a TRP is “a comprehensive written plan for recovering an entity’s data processing capability when such capability has been rendered inoperable or unusable due to a disaster.”
The TRP serves as an extension of an organization’s larger business continuity plan by focusing specifically on restoring technology and IT systems. It documents key information like system inventories, strategies for recovery, steps to securely restore data from backups, procedures for testing the plan, and communication protocols in the event of an incident.
Having a complete, tested TRP is critical for rapidly resuming normal operations and minimizing downtime that can impact productivity, services, revenue, and reputation.
Why Have a Technology Recovery Plan?
Having a documented technology recovery plan in place provides numerous benefits and is an important part of any organization’s business continuity strategy. As noted by Google Cloud (1), a technology recovery plan helps safeguard critical business operations and infrastructure by ensuring they can recover quickly and with minimal disruption in the event of a disaster or disruption. With an effective plan, organizations can restore hardware, applications, data and other IT resources according to predefined strategies in order to meet business needs and recovery time objectives.
A technology recovery plan is essential for minimizing downtime and preserving business reputation after an incident like ransomware, data corruption, natural disasters, or system failures. According to the U.S. Ready Campaign (2), having detailed disaster recovery documentation can help facilitate a smooth and rapid recovery process. The plan provides a roadmap for the technology recovery team to follow during crisis situations.
Additionally, a defined technology recovery plan is key for avoiding significant financial losses from prolonged outages, as explained by Ciphertex (3). With pre-determined backup, replication and restoration procedures in place, organizations can restore business-critical systems within the required recovery timeframes. Overall, a tested plan gives organizations confidence they can withstand and bounce back from disruptive events.
Elements of a Technology Recovery Plan
A comprehensive technology recovery plan involves several key components. According to experts, essential elements to include are:
- Business impact analysis – Analyze how various disaster scenarios would impact business operations, prioritizing systems and defining recovery time objectives (Source).
- Recovery strategies – Detail the technical plans to restore systems and data, whether through backups, redundant infrastructure, or alternative sites (Source).
- Recovery plan testing – Test and exercise the plan to validate it works. Identify any gaps and continue improving.
- Incident response – Define incident response procedures for various disaster scenarios.
- Communication plan – Detail how to notify affected parties during a disruption.
- Maintenance – Keep the plan updated by reviewing it periodically.
Having robust strategies across these key areas will help create a strong technology recovery plan.
Business Impact Analysis
A business impact analysis (BIA) is a critical step in developing a technology recovery plan. The BIA assesses the potential impacts resulting from a disruption to technology systems and infrastructure. It helps identify critical business functions, maximum allowable downtime, and the resources needed to recover operations (Business Impact Analysis).
Conducting a BIA involves determining the potential financial, operational, customer, regulatory, and reputational impacts from an outage. Key activities include (Why Technology Services begins with a Business Impact Analysis):
- Identifying critical systems, data, and applications
- Determining maximum allowable downtime before severe impacts occur
- Estimating direct and indirect financial costs from downtime
- Assessing operational, customer, regulatory, and reputation impacts
The BIA provides vital information for prioritizing recovery of technology systems and developing strategies to restore critical operations within the allowable downtime window (9 Steps for Conducting a Downtime Business Impact Analysis). It is an essential component of any technology recovery plan.
Recovery Strategies
The recovery strategies outline how an organization plans to restore critical technology infrastructure and systems after a disruption. Some common strategies include:
Redundancy – Having duplicate systems, equipment, or facilities that can quickly take over if the primary ones fail. This could involve a secondary data center or cloud provider. Red River recommends fully redundant infrastructure for critical systems.
Backups – Regularly backing up data, configurations, and system images so they can be restored. Backups should be automated, stored offsite or in the cloud, and regularly tested. For faster recovery, supplement full backups with incremental backups.
Alternative sites – Identifying alternate facilities where business operations can resume if the main site is inaccessible. These could include coworking spaces, cloud data centers, or failover sites. The space should have adequate power, network access, and equipment.
Failover – Providing high availability by implementing redundant systems that can automatically take over if the main ones fail. This prevents downtime and data loss.
Spare equipment – Keeping spare hardware, parts, and media on hand to replace damaged components quickly. This reduces dependence on vendors for emergency shipments.
Recovery Plan Testing
It is crucial to test a technology recovery plan regularly to validate that it works as intended. Testing helps identify gaps and deficiencies in the plan before an actual disaster strikes. Frequency of testing can vary based on organizational needs, but many experts recommend testing at least once or twice per year.
Some best practices for recovery plan testing include:
- Schedule regular tests, such as annually or semiannually. Test individual components as well as end-to-end recovery procedures.
- Define test objectives and create detailed test plans. Document all steps and expected results.
- Test a variety of scenarios based on different types of disasters or system failures.
- Involve team members responsible for recovery procedures to test execution and communication.
- Thoroughly document the testing process and results for review.
- Use test results to identify gaps, update plans, and improve procedures.
Regular testing provides the opportunity to validate recovery capabilities before an actual incident. It also familiarizes staff with procedures and helps maintain readiness. As systems change over time, continued testing ensures the recovery plan remains effective.
Cyber Incident Response
Cyber incident response is a critical component of any technology recovery plan. It outlines the steps an organization will take to detect, respond to, and recover from cyber attacks or data breaches that could severely disrupt normal operations.
According to the Checkpoint article, the cyber incident response section should cover strategies for maintaining business continuity throughout the attack and recovery process. This includes having an incident response team ready to take action, isolating compromised systems, and restoring data from backups.
The NIST framework recommends four stages of incident response: preparation, detection & analysis, containment & eradication, and recovery (NIST Incident Response). Preparation involves developing procedures, training staff, and acquiring necessary resources. Detection & analysis focuses on identifying anomalies and assessing impact severity. Containment & eradication aims to stop the attack spread and eliminate threats from systems. Finally, recovery restores business functions and services to normal operations.
Having detailed cyber incident response procedures allows organizations to rapidly detect, analyze, contain, eradicate, and recover from attacks or breaches. This minimizes business disruption and reputational damage.
Communication Plan
A key part of any technology recovery plan is having a clear communication strategy to notify staff, customers and stakeholders in the event of an outage or incident. Best practices for outage communication include:
For internal communication:
- Designate specific people to handle communications and provide transparent, timely updates to staff across the organization. See Best Practices in Outage Communication.
- Have a list of contact information for key staff members and departments. Segment notifications so technical teams get more detail than other staff.
- Clarify which teams will communicate direct updates versus general notifications. Outline the frequency of updates.
- Define an escalation plan for more serious incidents. Specify when to engage leadership, PR and other teams.
For external communication:
- Prepare status pages, email templates, social media posts and FAQ documents in advance that can be used or customized during an incident. See IT Outage Communication Best Practices.
- Notify customers proactively about the issue through preferred communication channels. Provide estimated resolution times if known.
- Segment external audiences and tailor communications appropriately for each group.
- Set expectations on frequency of updates and stick to this commitment. Increase frequency during prolonged issues.
- Monitor social media mentions and respond promptly to comments and concerns.
Regularly testing communication plans and processes will improve the ability to communicate effectively during real outages. Define metrics to evaluate communication performance and incorporate learnings into future incident response plans.
Maintenance and Updates
A key best practice for disaster recovery planning is to keep the plan current. As an organization’s technology infrastructure and business processes change over time, the disaster recovery plan must be updated to reflect those changes. According to Computerworld, the disaster recovery plan should be a “living document” that is reviewed and updated at least once per year.
The plan should have a defined review and update schedule, with assigned roles and responsibilities. Updates may be needed due to changes in business requirements, applications, infrastructure, policies, compliance regulations, and contact information. After significant changes, disaster recovery testing should be conducted to validate the updated plan.
By keeping the disaster recovery plan current, the organization can ensure it will meet the recovery objectives if a disruption event occurs. Maintaining an outdated plan can lead to confusion, delays, and preventable impacts during a crisis.
Sample Technology Recovery Plan
Here is an outline of what a sample technology recovery plan could include:
Business Impact Analysis
List the critical IT systems and components, their recovery time objectives, and the impacts if they are unavailable. Source
Emergency Procedures
Outline steps to assess and contain damage, recover operations ASAP, and establish alternative temporary IT facilities after a disruption. Source
Recovery Strategies
Describe the strategies to restore IT operations, such as backups, redundancies, alternative equipment, etc. Source
Plan Testing
Schedule tests to evaluate the ability of the plan to enable recovery of IT systems as intended. Source
Cyber Incident Response
Outline the steps to detect, respond to, and recover from malware, ransomware, data breach, and other cyberattacks. Source
Maintenance
Assign responsibility for updating the plan as IT systems and business operations change. Source