Both Disaster Recovery (DR) plans and programs help organizations prepare for disaster, but do so in different ways. While the plan is the basis for how a crisis is to be coped with, the program keeps the plan alive and makes sure that it will be effective when put into practice.
- The DR Plan
A DR plan is a document that prescribes strategy and details the protocol an organization intends to follow in the event of a disaster. The plan can manifest itself either as a physical entity, electronic file, or both.
It is ideal that an organization maintain an electronic version of its DR plan so that it can be instantaneously shared at the first sign it may need to be executed. Of course, an electronic DR plan should not be stored anywhere that might be affected by a disaster, else it risks becoming lost and ineffectual just when it becomes needed.
- The DR Program
A DR program refers to the “big” picture of how an organization deals with disaster. It is multi-dimensional and more over-arching than the DR plan, which is actually one of the many components of a program.The program itself is the broader ecosystem that exists within an organization to ensure that its DR plan is up to date, is backed-up with resources, and can be plausibly executed. Creating the plan is the easy part. Keeping it current, operational, and ready to go on a moment’s notice is far more difficult. Overcoming that difficulty is the purpose of the DR program.
To this end, a DR program should address the following areas of preparation to ensure that “the plan” is ready to go, and can be carried out without any scrambling, uncertainty, or gaps in communication.
- Roles – The program details which departments and individuals do what, and who the back-ups are if someone responsible for executing a role is unavailable.
- Training – A plan might instruct people on what to do, but a program ensures they are comfortable doing it. Training, orientation, and creating awareness of responsibilities are all elements of a DR program.
- Budget – The DR program determines where the funding for the DR plan will come from, and how expenditures and investments are accommodated in existing budgets.
- Material Support – The program ensures that a recovery site, as well as the communications, equipment, software and tools needed to operate it, is available as quickly as possible in the event of a crisis.
Both DR plans and programs play a vital role in helping companies deal with crisis. The plan describes the process of what is to be done. The program is in place to allow what must be done to happen as smoothly as possible.