TRAINING COURSE: Disaster Recovery Planning Certification

Business Continuity Strategy Design

• What are the key considerations when developing recovery strategies?
• How far apart should primary and alternate sites be?
• What are the key considerations for pursing an internal versus a third-party recovery solution?
• What is a “mobile recovery center”?
• What is an emergency operations center (EOC)?
• What are the differences among cold, warm and hot sites?
• What are key recovery considerations when negotiating a contract for a hosted solution or disaster recovery support (e.g., hot site contract)?
• How is advancement in technology changing disaster recovery planning considerations?

Plan Development and Strategy Implementation

• Is software necessary to develop a BCP?
• What is the difference between crisis management and crisis communications?
• What is a call tree?
• Is there a way to make the plan more efficient and effective?

Developing appropriate responses

• Matching the response to the risk.
• Taking preventive action.
• Ensuring appropriate contingencies are in place.

Responding to Incidents

• Creating the incident response plan.
• Capturing the planning output.
• Creating incident response team charters.
• Defining roles and responsibilities.
• Responding to incident scenarios.
• Information directories and equipment inventories.

Directing the incident response team

• Setting up the command center.
• Planning and conducting communications.
• Connecting with emergency services.
• Team actions following an incident.

Designing Contingency Arrangements

• Establishing a standby site.
• Site choices: configuration and acquisition.
• Choosing suppliers: in-house vs. third-party.
• Specifying equipment.

Selecting backup and restore strategies

• Matching strategy to operational constraints.
• Meeting the organization's storage requirements for vital records.

Restoring communications and recovering users

• Determining vital users with the BIA.
• Rerouting voice, mail, goods delivery.
• Eliminating single points of failure.
• Connecting end users.
• Meeting varied user-recovery needs.

Training and Awareness

• Are training and awareness the same?
• What are some successful business continuity training approaches?
• What are the available certification options?
• What are the available BCM education options?

Testing Maintenance

• What are the prevailing practices regarding the storage of BCP documentation?
• How often should business continuity-related documentation be updated and how should the organization keep the plans current?
• Testing plans with a step-by-step process.
• Developing test scenarios and using test results effectively.
• Considering the impact of testing on the organization.
• How often should the BCP be tested?
• What are the available testing options?
• Should the organization expand testing beyond IT?

Compliance Monitoring and Auditing

• How do organizations mature their business continuity programs?
• How often should the business continuity program be audited?
• What is the optimal role for internal audit in the BCM process?
• How does an organization review key vendor planning for business continuity compliance with industry best practices?

Maintaining and improving the BCMS

• Applying change control: why and how.
• Ensuring normal developments are accounted for.
• Leveraging test results to improve organizational practices.
• Managing organizational change.