After paring down a list of recovery options based on those that meet your companies Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD) and recovery requirements it is time to assess the cost and capabilities of each remaining option. In most cases, the higher the capability, the higher the cost. Data will be a critical factor in choosing a recovery option since all mitigation strategies will have to meet the company’s financial restraints. The following is a list of attributes necessary to consider when assessing recovery options.
- Cost – cost of the mitigation or recovery option
- Capability – capabilities of the option
- Effort – amount of effort it will take to implement and manage the option
- Quality – quality of the product, service, or data associated with the option
- Control – amount of control the company will retain over the critical business process
- Safety – in cases where physical safety is a concern, a safety rating of the solution should be considered
- Security – estimates of physical and virtual (information and network access) security the option provides
- Desirability – assessment of the overall desirability of an option. In many cases this is a qualitative judgment based on quantitative data
Finding the right balance between recovery capability and cost is the key to choosing the best recovery option for your company.
Michael Herrera
Michael Herrera is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MHA. In his role, Michael provides global leadership to the entire set of industry practices and horizontal capabilities within MHA. Under his leadership, MHA has become a leading provider of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery services to organizations on a global level. He is also the founder of BCMMETRICS, a leading cloud based tool designed to assess business continuity compliance and residual risk. Michael is a well-known and sought after speaker on Business Continuity issues at local and national contingency planner chapter meetings and conferences. Prior to founding MHA, he was a Regional VP for Bank of America, where he was responsible for Business Continuity across the southwest region.
