Why have an outside firm validate your firm's Disaster Recovery Plan?

There are many reasons why you need to test your Disaster Recovery Plan on a periodic basis.  The most important is so that in your firm's time of need you know that it works.  So how often should you test your Plan?  What does 'on a periodic basis' mean to you and your firm?

It is my opinion that every firm, no matter how large or how small, should dedicate a weekend to testing their Disaster Recovery Plan.  They should also have someone experienced in Disaster Recovery reviewing the plan, standing side by side with the business as the test is executed and finally, working to give an honest and independent appraisal of the event.  Did things go according to plan?  What deviated from plan and why?  Were alternatives considered at that time?  What were they and why caused the alternative choosen to stand above the others?

IT organizations in the best of companies are over-taxed these days.  What was running lean and mean in the 1980s has taken a whole new meaning in 2010.  Who honestly has the time necessary to adequately review a DR Plan prior to a test run to insure everything that has been added to your IT environment since this plan was devised is taken into account?  Who has time to review and analyze the results after a DR Test, draft appropriate changes, review changes with the line of business for prioritization and approval and finally to coordinate the agreed upon changes make it into your environment.  Oh and still do the necessary base activities of IT and run the discretionary projects too.

Ok - so here is the commercial:  Resources from Zombie Data can help.  We can assist in performing as many of these tasks as you need us to.  We are IT experienced individuals and know what to look for. We can make you the hero of this year's analysis and next year's DR Test all in one effort. If you are serious about Disaster Recovery and want to talk about your situation I make you this offer - contact me directly and we will work together to achieve success.