INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN FOR IBM

Revision History

Official copies of the document are available at the following locations:

• Department of Information Technology Office
• Office and home of the Chief Information Officer

Contents

Revision History. 1

Official copies of the document are available at the following locations: 1

Contents. 2

Section 1: Introduction. 3

Section 2: Scope. 3

Section 3: Assumptions. 3

Section 4: Definitions. 3

Section 5: Teams. 3

5.0.1        Incident Commander 3

5.0.2        Incident Command Team.. 3

5.1   Datacenter Recovery Team.. 3

5.2   Desktop, Lab, and Classroom Recovery Team.. 4

5.3   Enterprise Systems Recovery Team.. 4

5.4   Infrastructure and Web Recovery Team.. 4

5.5   Telecommunications, Network, and Internet Services Recovery Team.. 4

Section 6: Recovery Preparations. 5

6.1   Data Recovery Information: 5

6.2   Central Datacenter and Server Recovery Information: 5

6.3   Network and Telecommunication Recovery Information: 5

6.4   Application Recovery Information: 5

6.5   Desktop Equipment Recovery Information: 5

Section 7: Disaster Recovery Processes and Procedures. 5

7.1   Emergency Response: 5

7.2   Incident Command Team: 5

7.3   Disaster Recovery Teams: 5

7.4   General System/Application Recovery Procedures/Outline: 5

8.0 Network & Telecommunication Recovery Guidelines: 7

Appendix A. IT Contact List 7

Appendix B. Crisis Management Team Contact List 7

Appendix C: IT Recovery Priority List 7

C.1  IT Infrastructure Priorities: 7

C.2  IT System Priorities: 8

C.3  Consortium, Outsourced, and Cloud-based IT System Priorities: 8

C.4  IT Facility Priorities. 9

Appendix D: Vendor Information. 9

Appendix E: Disaster Recovery Signoff Sheet 10

Section 1: Introduction

IBM is an international Corporation in the Information Technology industry. The initials IBM stand for International Business Machines. It is incorporated in New York and has developed labs in six continents. The company has over the years specialized in research and other fields in the information technology industry. She is among the industry leaders, among others like Microsoft, Apple, and Lenovo among others. It is among the world’s biggest employers, with the employees being referred to as IBMers. The company was started in 1911 and has ever since been making tremendous moves in the hardware, middleware, and software industry and research too. Among the biggest moves, she has made is the supercomputer called Summit. Besides these, the company has over the years evolved winning awards in the various fields and going for the most profitable ventures. Among the biggest achievements and products invented by the company are: the automatic teller machine, the magnetic stripe card, the floppy disc, the hard disk drive among many others. The company has established institutions and partnerships with other companies to make sure that the objectives she has been fully achieved.

Being such a huge global company comes with a myriad of risks and responsibilities. The data centers are always busy solving various client issues and various data needs. This means that once a disaster strikes the premises, a huge loss is likely going to be incurred. As a result of the various types of risks and the importance of the data stored in the various data centers, the organization needs a sound disaster recovery plan. This plan outlines the various responsive mechanisms during the various times and the people mandated to respond to these challenges. The organization must have a sound disaster recovery plan to solve the challenges and predispositions the organization could have at certain times of the year. As an IT firm, there are very many risks and attacks being planned and sent against the organization. With the voluminous data storage that the organization does, a little break into the organization could lead to very huge losses at a go. A breach into the organizational information, the various data centers, and the records kept by the organization could mean a very serious blow.

Having access to the organizational servers by the outsiders, which could be done by the hackers could render a very serious blow to the systems. As a result, the various quarters and departments are supposed to be keen on their operations. There is a dire need for a standby team that is always checking the systems for security and a response team, ready to deal with any challenge presented to the organization. In either of these cases, the teams need to be agile and as apt as they can to safeguard the information available and ensure the safety and continuity of the organization. Many other organizations rely on this company for the security of their information. Clients from all over the world have entrusted their IT and security needs to the firm and this charges them with the responsibility of being keen on their operations and having their eyes on the lookout for any event that could be a distraction.

Besides data breaches and the security breaches into the data centers, other calamities could also face the organizations. An unplanned disaster like fire, floods, and security issues are all possible threats to the safety of the organization in the various quarters. The security of the various data centers is not a hundred percent guarantee. Anything could happen at any point in time in this uncertain world. Terrorist attacks being one of the challenges. Once terrorists get access to the data centers, a lot could happen to the organization. Stealing and disfranchising the premises is one of the possible harms they could cause the organization. In cases of fire, there could be losses in volumes in case the fire is not discovered and put out early enough. Despite all these, one thing for sure is that the organization needs to recover through the various challenges, maintaining the best image to the clients possible. The clients need to be assured of the security of their information and the various assets they have stored with the information. This is where the disaster recovery plan comes in. The various members of the organization need to be versed with the responsibilities they have towards the maintenance of the organizational image and the security of the organization

A copy of this plan is stored in the following areas:

• Department of Information Technology Office
• Clients and external employees of the organization
• Office and home of the Chief Information Officer
• Every member of the Disaster recovery team
• ALL the employees from the various departments of the organization

Section 2: Scope

This disaster recovery plan will cover all organizational departments and all forms of disaster. The various security threats are also covered in the recovery plan. It also covers all the people and the responsibilities they have towards the recovery of the organization. The plan also covers the necessary contact information for the various people responsible for getting the organization back to its feet in case of anything. The people are further tasked with coming up with plans to take into action for the complete recovery of the organization. The plan also covers all the procedures that the organizational members need to take in case of anything.

The communication channels of the organization are well documented in the recovery plan, with all the hierarchies presented and the responsibility of every member of the team. Above all is the need for a responsive mechanism from the clients during the various instances. The most important thing is that the team members need to remain composed. In case of confrontations by media houses, the organizational member in question should respond in a way that maintains a positive image of the organization while still utilizing the opportunity to reassure the various clients and partners of the security of their information.

Section 3: Assumptions

This plan has very many assumptions in place. These assumptions are divided into sections like hazards related to information technology infrastructure, disaster affecting the internal settings of the organization but not the information security, and those that could affect the overall infrastructure like the buildings and the offices.

Disasters Affecting the Infrastructure

In case of a fire or any disaster that could affect the infrastructure of the company, the following assumptions are made:

1. The employees are well-versed with defense and responsive mechanisms. If the employees are well equipped with the responses to fire, then they can be able to quickly put them out.
2. In case the damage of the fire seems to be growing out of hand, the employees can easily call for the help of other employees from other departments without causing alarm.

• When the employees from the other departments are completely unable to help, including the fire rescue team or the team responsible for such a disaster, the external conditions and the government policies are favorable enough for the company to get help before the fire causes any damage.

1. In areas that could be affected by storms and tornados, the organizational members are well versed with preventive measures like how they could stay safe. All the members need to be cautious as they deal with the various disasters as their safety comes first.

Disasters Affecting the IT Infrastructure and the Security of the Firm

These are possibly the most dangerous of all the disasters that could face the company. Anything that could compromise the security of the information systems is a huge disaster. This is because most of the operations are based on the safety of the information systems. This means that the members of the organization need to be alert in any of the cases to keep the information safe. In case a disaster affecting them happens, it is assumed that;

1. There is enough encryption to the existing organizational data.
2. There is a team on the standby to check and respond to any threat facing the organization and they can respond to it as soon as possible before causing a lot of harm.

• The information infrastructure is strong enough to withhold and detect any external invasions.

1. In the event the security threats find their way into the system, there are proper mechanisms to ensure that the crucial organizational information is safe.
2. In the event any of these destructions happen, the members of the response team will always be on the standby to respond to these challenges as soon as they can without other engagements.
3. In the event, the disruptions occur, the already available information is fully backed up in multiple backups and can get retrieved when needed.

• In case of power challenges, there will always be strong backups to ensure that the systems run as if everything is normal inside the organization. This shift is required to happen in a matter of seconds.

Section 4: Definitions

Team leaders: The heads of the various subgroups of employees working on various projects.

Team members: The composition of the groups, which is the members making the functional teams that are formed to suit the need for organizational security and the various operations.

Communication hierarchy: The order that must be followed in the attempt to respond to the various organizational challenges and the chain of command to be adhered to.

Section 5: Teams

5.0.1   Incident Commander

5.0.2   Incident Command Team

5.1  Datacenter Recovery Team

All Contact Information is located in Appendix A

5.2  Desktop, Lab, and Classroom Recovery Team

All Contact Information is located in Appendix A

Commander.

5.3  Enterprise Systems Recovery Team

All Contact Information is located in Appendix A

5.4  Infrastructure and Web Recovery Team

All Contact Information is located in Appendix A

Commander.

5.5  Telecommunications, Network, and Internet Services Recovery Team

All Contact Information is located in Appendix A

Commander.

Section 6: Recovery Preparations

6.1  Data Recovery Information:

All the important data shall be stored in the backup systems. All the activities ongoing in the organizations are backed up in real-time with encryptions to ensure that the organizational data is safe any time destruction happens. In the event an operator was cut amid their operations, they can always access and retrieve the information from the organizational backup systems. These include the cloud and the multiple backup systems.

6.2  Central Datacenter and Server Recovery Information:

The central data center is only accessible to those members of the organization that is warranted by the organization. They shall retrieve the information needed by the other employees to ensure greater encryption of the information systems. The lower rank employees do not have access to the central datacenter.

6.3  Network and Telecommunication Recovery Information:

The recovery of all the network and telecommunication information is going to be done by the individuals responsible for the network systems. The leader is the Networks and Telecommunications manager. He shall mobilize the various team members to conduct all the necessary activities to restore the network and the connectivity of the organization.

6.4  Application Recovery Information:

To recover the various applications used by the various system operators, the members shall log into their devices with the newly acquired machine. This applies if the disaster happens to destroy the machines and new ones are acquired. Logging in into their user account will grant them full access to all the systems they used earlier on.

6.5  Desktop Equipment Recovery Information:

The various desktop equipment is going to be recovered procedurally, following all the responsive mechanisms in place. The team lead is going to provide directions on the best recovery method for the various teams, especially if the entire organization is hit.

Section 7: Disaster Recovery Processes and Procedures

7.1            Emergency Response:

In the event there is a need for emergency response, the following procedure is going to be followed.

1. The person realizing the problem informs other team members and the team lead.
2. The team members and the team lead take the first precaution for their safety and the safety of the systems.

• The team fixes the challenge if it is within their ability.

1. If the problem cannot be fixed by the team that has realized it, then the team lead is going to call the leader of the team meant to respond to such.
2. The team lead is going to immediately inform the team members of the issue at hand and assign them responsibilities. This communication will take place within the first five minutes of discovering the issue.

7.2  Incident Command Team:

7.3  Disaster Recovery Teams:

7.4  General System/Application Recovery Procedures/Outline:

The application recovery process shall take place hierarchically to ensure the security of the systems. The following procedure shall apply in the process:

1. The user shall log in to their account.
2. The system automatically sends a request to the team lead.

• The team leader asks the verification details set to ascertain that is the user.

1. The team leads grants access on confirming that is the user.
2. The user accesses all the applications.

8.0 Network & Telecommunication Recovery Guidelines:

The recovery of all the systems relies on the network and telecommunication department. They should, therefore, be keen than they could ever be in ensuring that they recover all the systems in due time. All the response mechanisms should also be put in place to ensure the total restoration of the systems.

Appendix A. IT Contact List

Appendix B. Crisis Management Team Contact List

Appendix C: IT Recovery Priority List

The following priorities have been established by the Department of Information Technology with consultation from the entire management team.

C.1  IT Infrastructure Priorities:

C.2  IT System Priorities:

The various developers are going to be consulted to ensure that they restore the systems into place and the activities of the system normalize in the shortest time possible. The team is going to work with the command of the team lead to restore everything to the original functioning.

C.3  Consortium, Outsourced, and Cloud-based IT System Priorities:

• Critical – Basic infrastructure and must be restored as soon as
• High – Systems of extreme importance, but do not provide
• Medium – Important systems and applications, but do not have a university-wide
• Low – Systems important to specific departments or specific small populations of
• Full –Systems that may not be restored to functional status until normal operations are reestablished.

Note: RTO is recovery time objective, RPO is recovery point objective

C.4  IT Facility Priorities

Note: building list continues on the next page.

• Critical, needed for the maintenance of public health and safety,
• High, needed for income maintenance for students, employees; payments to vendors; requirements for compliance or regulation; effect on cash flow; effect on production and delivery of services (Software engineering, research, cloud storage, and data hosting).
• Medium, needed for the mission of the company, delivery of
• quality products and services.

Appendix D: Vendor Information

Appendix E: Disaster Recovery Signoff Sheet

I have been briefed and given an overview of the Disaster Recovery Plan and I am familiar with my responsibilities.