Not all applications are created equal in a disaster. Phase 3: Application Impact Analysis, or Application Criticality Analysis, focuses on identifying the applications that are your organization's lifeblood. Understanding these critical systems and their recovery needs ensures your DR plan prioritizes protection and swift restoration during a disaster.
First, you will identify your critical applications. This involves considering factors like user dependency, the financial impact of downtime for each application, and any regulatory compliance requirements that mandate specific uptime or data security measures.
Applications with a large user base, those directly impacting revenue generation, or those containing sensitive data would be considered critical.
These objectives are called Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs). RTOs define the maximum tolerable downtime for a critical application after a disaster, while RPOs define the acceptable amount of data loss between backups.
The chapter acknowledges that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to RTOs and RPOs. For instance, an e-commerce platform might have a very low RTO for its online store application to minimize lost sales, while an internal document management system might have a more flexible RTO.
Similarly, the RPO for an e-commerce platform might be extremely low to ensure minimal data loss on customer transactions. By establishing clear RTOs and RPOs for each critical application, you essentially define the recovery goals your DR plan needs to achieve. This information will guide you in selecting appropriate DR strategies and data backup procedures to ensure business continuity during a disaster. Phase 3 forms the foundation for prioritizing recovery efforts. It provides your DR plan that focuses on protecting the systems essential for your organization to weather any IT storm.
The first step involves pinpointing the applications and systems vital for your business operations. Consider the following factors when making this assessment:
Once you've identified your critical applications, it's essential to establish clear recovery objectives. These objectives define each critical application's acceptable downtime and data loss levels. Here's a breakdown of these key terms:
There's no one-size-fits-all approach to defining RTOs and RPOs. They will vary depending on the factors mentioned above, particularly the criticality of the application. For example, an e-commerce platform might have a very low RTO (minutes) for its online store application to minimize lost sales. In contrast, an internal document management system might have a more flexible RTO (hours) if critical documents are recoverable.
Similarly, the RPO for an e-commerce platform might be extremely low (seconds) to ensure minimal data loss on customer transactions. At the same time, an internal document management system might have a higher RPO (hours) if the documents are regularly backed up.
By establishing clear RTOs and RPOs for each critical application, you can define the recovery goals your DR plan needs to achieve. This information will guide your selection of DR strategies, such as hot sites, warm sites, or cold sites, and data backup procedures that meet the specific needs of each critical application.
Phase 3 forms the foundation for prioritizing recovery efforts in your DR plan. By understanding your critical applications and their recovery requirements, you can ensure your DR strategy focuses on protecting the systems essential for business continuity in the face of unforeseen disruptions.
IT Disaster Recovery Planning Methodology |
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Contact our colleagues to know more about our IT DR program and when the next course is scheduled. They are the DR-3 or DR-300 IT Disaster Recovery Implementer and the DR-5 or DR-5000 IT Disaster Recovery Expert Implementer.
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