Not many of us have much experience when it comes to developing a business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan, and until recent years we haven't really felt the need to worry about either one. After all, we weren't always responsible for so much data, were we? But events such as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, have changed our definition of worst case scenario, and have increased our awareness that a complete, interdisciplinary business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan are absolutely critical to the survival of our businesses.

So, what are a business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan? Simply put, they are plans that spell out how your business will function in the event of a disaster, whether onsite or regional in scope. Although we usually think of disasters as weather events, earthquakes, fires, or terrorist activities, they may also (and most frequently do) include things such as equipment failures, security breaches, and attacks by hackers.

And while a solid business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan most certainly include details on how to contact employees, ways to acquire supplies, or where a secondary work site will be located, most businesses are so data-intensive these days that you can’t introduce a complete business continuity and disaster recovery plan if you have neglected critical tasks like data backup and recovery.