Disaster Recovery

Disaster Recovery Facilities Program

Who Needs a Disaster Recovery Facilities Plan?

Most financial institutions and businesses have addressed a backup plan for data processing services in their disaster plan. However, a plan to backup their facility may have been overlooked or inadequately addressed.

Preparation is the key to contingency planning, especially where the alternative facility section is involved. In the last few months and years terrorist acts, hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, and even gas explosions have all played a part in the destruction of numerous financial institutions and businesses across the United States. It is most important that if a disaster should strike your facility, you have a plan that will allow you to service your customers at your existing location, if at all possible.

Murphy's law won't allow you to anticipate every scenario. There is no fail-safe disaster recovery plan and no way to protect yourself against every eventuality. A contingency planner’s job is to anticipate as many of these glitches as possible and provide alternative solutions. This way, if a disaster occurs, the financial institution or business can keep running the vital areas of the institution’s business.

Several choices exist when selecting an alternative facility that is right for your financial institution or business. This alternative’s ultimate goal is simply to present your institution as operational for your customers as quickly and efficiently as possible. When considering an alternative facility, you must keep the following things in mind:

• You must have a written contract updated annually
• You must have guaranteed availability
• The building must be available in a timely manner
• The equipment must be in compliance with federal guidelines
• If an alternative site is likely to be damaged in the same event, such as a fire or tornado, it should not be considered.