Disaster Recovery (DR) Planning is a critical part of any organization’s risk management plan. As a sub-process of Business Continuity Planning (BCP), it focuses on getting critical IT infrastructure and business operations up and running in the event there is a disaster (natural or human-made). DR Planning is the process of documenting the step by step instructions necessary for responding to unplanned incidents, events, and situations.

As the name implies, the focus of the BCP is to ensure that the entire business can continue and survive a disaster or large interruption.

There are five steps in developing the DR Plan (DRP). This post will focus on step 1: Establishing a Disaster Recovery committee. This team is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining the DRP. Below is a list of recommended team participants, along with the unique aspects their role brings to the team:

Stakeholder Role
Project Manager 
  • Leads the overall DR plan development and understands what each of the other stakeholders contributes to the team
  • Has a clear vision and expectations of what is needed to develop a reasonable and actionable plan
Legal Counsel
  • Advises on the legal or regulatory aspects of proposed actions
IT / Cybersecurity 
  • Offers advice and information concerning current IT
  • Provides expertise for networking and security-related options
HR 
  • Provides information on company policies related to the personal aspects of crisis management
Operations
  • Provides information on the current budget
  • Helps explore what-if scenarios related to budgets and funding
Marketing Partner
  • Proposes when, how, and to whom it’s necessary to communicate an incident if needed – both internally and externally
Subject Matter Expert
  • Explains how various incidents will impact the technical work
  • Offers suggestions for how the technical team can best be utilized
Outreach Consultant
  • Provides a view of how incidents will impact customers