Every company needs to create its own disaster recovery plan. This plan will help your business in following strict security compliance guidelines. For example, if you are in the healthcare sector, then you need to follow HIPAA compliance. Similarly, companies that are dealing with financial data need to follow PCI DSS compliance. But, having a disaster recovery plan is not enough for modern businesses. They also need to ensure that they’re compliant during the whole recovery process. If you already have a good DR plan, then you are doing a great job. However, you still need to make sure that your plan is meeting all the relevant standards. In this article, we are going to share some tips that will help you in making your disaster recovery plan compliant.

Ensure data backups are compliant

Companies that are backing up their data are already in a very good position. However, you should still ensure that your backup service is following all the data security regulations. If you are working in the healthcare sector, then you should look for a backup service that is HIPAA compliant. You should ask your backup service providers about the security protocols that they are using.

Store backup in different locations

Natural disasters like earthquakes and floods can completely destroy a data center. If you are storing your data in your office building, then it will be very difficult to protect it during the disasters. You should try to store your data in different geographical areas. This will help you in minimizing the probability of data loss.

Understand your compliance requirements

Security compliance requirements are different for every industry. For example, healthcare companies need to follow HIPAA compliance. HIPAA compliance is not applicable to other companies. If you don’t know about your industry compliance requirements, then you should ask your IT department. Your IT team can check if your recovery plan is compliant. Also, they will look for loopholes in your IT plan.

Store multiple backups

Natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes can destroy your in-house servers. Thus, you need to rely on your data backups. Some natural disasters can affect various geographical areas at once. If you have stored your backups in the same region, then you might lose them all at once. The only way to protect your data from natural disasters is by storing multiple backups. These backups should be stored in at least 2-3 geographically areas. You can solve this problem by working with a cloud backup provider. They will help you in spreading your backups in different geographical locations. You should also check the locations where your backups are stored.

Define your recovery goals

Every business will have different recovery goals. Some companies need to quickly restore their systems. Similarly, many companies need to provide continuous service to their customers. You can find your recovery goals by finding your Recovery Time Objective or RTO. Also, you should calculate your business Recovery Point Objective or RPO. You should work on minimizing the downtime. Make sure that you can quickly get your systems back up.

Secure your office

You also need to consider the security of your office during a natural disaster. Every natural disaster can bring chaos with time. For example, a hurricane is a perfect opportunity for looters to steal your office equipment and data. You need to think about this point while creating your data recovery plan. Make sure that you are thinking about the physical security of your office. This will ensure that you are following all the security compliances.

Make sure that your disaster recovery plan is up to date

If you are never updating your disaster recovery plan, then it will become irrelevant with time. For example, every DR plan will have a person that will initiate the plan. You should define the roles and responsibilities of your employee. This will ensure that they know about their roles.

But, if one of your employees has left your company, then your plan won’t stay compliant. You need to find a new employee that can take responsibility. Make sure that you are regularly reviewing your disaster recovery plan. This will ensure that your disaster recovery plan is always compliant.

Choose a provider with enough experience

A disaster recovery provider will help you in creating a perfect Disaster recovery plan for your business. Make sure that the provider that you are working with has enough experience in your industry. Some providers are excellent at tackling finance compliance issues. Similarly, some providers can help you in following healthcare compliance requirements. If you want to reduce the risk, then you should ensure that your provider is experience.

Test your plans

Your DR plan is very important for your business. It will protect your business from data loss and downtime. Every week more than 140k hard drives crash in the USA. You might become the next target. Ignorance won’t help you in protecting your business data and systems. Make sure that your plans will help you in protecting your data. You should regularly test your plan. This will help you in finding flaws in your plan. If you have already tested your plan, then you can easily find flaws in your plan. This will ensure that your plan will work during an actual disaster. You can address the flaws before they affect your business.

Conclusion

You need to ensure that your disaster recovery plan is compliant. These tips will help you in ensuring that your disaster recovery plan is compliant. Make sure that you are working with a compliant backup provider. Also, you should define the recovery goals of your business. These goals will be different for every business. You should ensure that your backups are stored in different geographical areas. It is also important to regularly update your disaster recovery plans. You should also regularly test your disaster recovery plan. This will help you in finding flaws in your plan. If you need more tips regarding the disaster recovery plan, then you should contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.