By Kirk Drake | October 16, 2012

How do you measure, evaluate and report your credit union third-party providers disaster recovery programs?

If you or your company build everything in-house and never buy or outsource any aspects of your services to business partners, this post isn’t for you. However, if you rely on key business partners and third-parties to provide key elements of your services, than this post will help you evaluate the quality of your partners’ disaster recovery programs.

Vendor due diligence is the foundation for making sure your key vendors can continue to provide the support you require no matter what happens. To raise the bar beyond basic Vendor Due Diligence there are several steps a business can take:

Get Proof

Make certain the due diligence package contains details about their (the vendors) DRP, Disaster Recovery Program, and actual exercise events.

Ask Questions

Don’t hesitate to ask questions about details in their exercise program, customer interest will drive them to improve.

Participate

The issue of vendor recovery has become an increasingly critical part of our job and the Business Continuity Program. As Continuity Professionals, we recommend to our Clients that they go a step beyond collecting the Vendor’s due diligence report and actually participate at some level in the Vendor’s annual Disaster Recovery Exercise or request proof thereof and talk to the Client that did participate.

Are you concerned about how to engage your employees in your business continuity program? Do you worry about how you will communicate with your customers should a disaster occur? If you have these or other questions please e-mail us at info@ongoingoperations.com or fill out our contact us form.