How to Create a Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Business

Why Every Business Needs a Disaster Recovery Plan

Disasters come in many forms: ransomware attacks, hardware failures, natural disasters, or simple human error. Without a plan, any of these can be catastrophic for your business.

A solid disaster recovery (DR) plan ensures your business can continue operating—or quickly resume operations—after a disruptive event.

Understanding RTO and RPO

Before building your plan, understand these critical metrics:

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

How long can your business be down?

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

How much data can you afford to lose?

Building Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Step 1: Inventory Your Systems

Document everything:

Step 2: Prioritize by Business Impact

Not all systems are created equal. Rank them by:

Step 3: Define Recovery Strategies

For each priority level, define:

Step 4: Implement the 3-2-1 Backup Rule

Step 5: Document Recovery Procedures

Create step-by-step procedures for:

Step 6: Test Your Plan

A plan that hasn't been tested isn't a plan—it's a hope.

Regular testing should include:

Common Disaster Scenarios

Ransomware Attack

Hardware Failure

Natural Disaster

Disaster Recovery Plan Template

Section 1: Plan Overview

Section 2: Risk Assessment

Section 3: Recovery Strategies

Section 4: Communication Plan

Section 5: Testing Schedule

Best Practices

Regular Updates

Your plan should evolve with your business:

Employee Training

Everyone should know:

Vendor Coordination

Include your key vendors:

Conclusion

Creating a disaster recovery plan takes effort, but it's infinitely easier than recovering from a disaster without one. Start with the basics—inventory, prioritize, backup—then build from there.

*MTH IT Solutions offers disaster recovery planning and implementation services. Contact us for a free DR assessment.*