5 Ways to Test IT Disaster Recovery Plans

dr tests for credit unions

While writing a Disaster Recovery Plan is important, testing and exercising your plan is actually far more important. In our experience, there are really only two things that you are trying to accomplish with Disaster Recovery Testing.

First, building the muscle memory.

This is for the management team to remember they have a plan and actually review it when a day to day crisis happens. Time is of the essence when responding to critical issues, and you probably already created a checklist that will meet your needs. There is no need day of a crisis to be doing anything from scratch and trying to reinvent the wheel.

Second, figuring out what is wrong and fixing it.

The reality is that software, business processes, consumers, and the world are constantly changing. Hence, your plan is obsolete the second you finish it. It’s unfortunate, but true. Plans cannot be writtenand stuck in a drawer to be brought out during a crisis five years later. Instead, you need to treat your plan as a living and breathing system that is under constant refinement.

So, if you have an existing Disaster Recovery Plan and want to start testing it, here are five key ways for testing your Disaster Recovery Plan.

1. Individual or Paper Disaster Recovery Test

Print that 427 page plan out and read it. I know, it is daunting. Frankly, if it more than a few pages long you have probably over complicated it and nobody will ever use it. But, pull it out and read through it once a quarter and notate the changes or revisions. Make notes of any business process, system, people or location changes.

2. Table Top or Walk through Business Continuity Plan Testing

Getting the group together and walking through the plans is a key a way to practice and determine where the plan falls short.  Need some suggested scenarios – click here Table Top Scenarios

3. Simulation or Scenario Based Event

Taking your plan to the next level by simulating an actual disaster plan is a great way to add realism, build buy-in etc. Here at Ongoing Operations, once a month we interrupt a regularly scheduled meeting and our head of business continuity presents a scenario. Everything stops while we work through it. It is always a surprise timing and a surprise event. Let’s face it – you can’t really plan for when a Disaster will occur so what better way to test it!

4. Parallel Test

Once you get good at the stuff above, it’s time to test the technology department. Most companies today can’t function without critical IT Systems, so performing a parallel disaster recovery test is key. In this situation, building a secondary environment and restoring key systems is crucial to find out if you can meet your RTO, Recovery Time Objectives, and your RPOs, Recovery Point Objectives.

5. Cutover or Full Fail Over Test

Once you have gotten really good at your parallel Disaster Recovery Testing, you should consider doing a full cutover test. This can be daunting, but it is really the only way to know that your systems, people, and processes are as resilient as you think. Start off by simply cutting over a few key things. Eventually scale up and get good at failing over and failing back.  Some of our clients switch production and back-up every six months.

So – how should you structure your DR Testing?

Really, you should just follow best practices for how you handle complex project management and rolling out new products. Use a structured methodical process that keeps track of change control and details and makes it operational. Here are some steps.

  1. Determine how frequently you should perform each type of test.
  2. Test individual components first, then move onto systemic testing. As you go, bring in outsiders who are unfamiliar with the processes. Have them run it from end to end, take notes and provide the notes back to the authors.  Have someone else check to make sure the updates were completed.
  3. Scale up the test - Incorporate more systems and more people after you get good at the individual components.
  4. Test the entire plan. Disaster Recovery Testing requires a great deal of “buy-in,” collaboration and team work to actually work and prepare you for an event. Often times people think anyone can write a plan, however without experience many find that it is a frustrating two steps forward – one step back process.  Following the methodology above will help avoid the frustrated feelings while you get good at Testing your Disaster Recovery Plan.

 

Want to Learn More About Disaster Recovery Testing?

The Ongoing Operations DR Methodology

The Importance of Tabletop Exercises

Insiders Guide To Credit Union Managed Disaster Recovery (DRaaS)

Cost-Effective Solutions for Your Credit Union

Simply fill out this form and select the topic(s) that you would like more information for, and our team will reach out shortly.

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