The Roles of a Disaster Recovery Committee

by netlogx | Aug 29, 2019

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

netlogx

netlogx is a leading consulting services company that helps government entities, businesses, and nonprofits operate more efficiently with our project management, business process consulting, and strategic consulting services. As a well-established woman-owned business with consultants across the country, netlogx leverages industry standard methodologies and best practices to support our clients and bring projects and visions to successful completion.