An article written by me in 2005

Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) - Is the Focus always right?

Why Build Hospitals when Ambulance would suffice?

?A Doctor once told the patient…. “…. have examined you well…. and you seem to be progressing satisfactorily. However, just take the medicine I am prescribing now for a week and you will be fine. But…but….but… when you are taking the medicine…do not think of monkey!!” .

The much-relieved patient goes back home and was about to take the first dose of the medicine prescribed by the Doctor. Meticulous the patient was that he re-called what the Doctor had said and promptly the patient had the mental picture of a Monkey in front of him – some thing he should have avoided as per the Doctor’s advice. So…… where was the problem? The problem was on “focus”…. in this case unnecessary focus was given on the unwanted i.e. monkey. Had the doctor kept quiet and just handed over the prescription to the patient, the probability of the patient thinking of a monkey at the time of taking his medicine would have perhaps been zero.????

We have a similar situation of a possible misplaced focus when we talk of Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP). Historically, extreme attention and importance have been placed to various aspects relating Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP). Thanks to today’s globalization, internet technology, BPO mantra etc etc, DRP has been one of the most critical factors in any negotiation formula. By the very manner of this description, a DRP is bound to place so much focus on the “disaster” and the related recovery to perfection that one may lose sight of the immediate and even the very need to recover from a disaster. Care should be taken to ensure that one does not land up in a situation of “Operation successful – patient collapsed”.

?The moment disaster is declared, the focus moves to the recovery from the disaster. Is that the right focus? Yes! We need to recover from the disaster… but when, how, how quickly and at what cost are the questions we should ask before jumping into the act! In the whole drama of tension and anxiety to recover from the disaster let’s not forget to ask the most basic question “Why are we attempting to recover from the disaster? Sounds stupid! Well, let’s answer that basic question and perhaps get the most obvious answer –to commence operations, to render customer service, etc etc.

?In today’s scenario, it is important that the focus shifts from “recovering from a disaster” to “prevention of non force-majeure disasters”. However in the event of a disaster, focus must be maintained on??“Business Resumption Plan (BRP)” and “Business Continuity Plan (BCP)” until normalcy of operations is achieved. From the very moment a disaster is declared, the focus should only be on BRP initially and then on BCP. It can well be a second major disaster if focus is maintained only on DRP and losing sight of immediate priority of Business Resumption and Business Continuity. Aiming at a one-step perfect recovery after a disaster and also taking pride for the same does not meet today’s economic model and can soon become an extinct risk philosophy.??

?The very nature of operations for a Bank makes it imperative to have robust BRP, BCP and DRP. In their zeal and enthusiasm to provide continuity of service to its clients, Banks often tend to overdo the measures that are required to be taken in case of a disaster. Very often, IT consultants have a role to play in the area of DRP. The Traditional consultant advocates full-fledged redundancies in virtually everything under the umbrella of hardware, software, communications, data centres, equipment, premises etc etc., This traditional view is almost out of place in today’s world which is ever challenging cost vs benefits, buy vs make, hire vs own, etc etc. A Financial Institution does not see a consultant as one who preaches expensive sermons but actually sees him as within his team who participates in the overall balancing act of “risk mitigation cost ” vs “ consequential losses”. It is easy to recommend construction of an additional hospital - but you need courage and conviction to say an ambulance would suffice for most of the purposes!!! If this recommendation is backed with facts and figures, man……. you are the “ideal consultant” for today’s world!?????