IT DR Tests & Exercises

Developing and carrying out effective disaster recovery tests and exercises is essential to ensure that:

  • IT and comms recovery solutions actually work in practice
  • All required pre-incident actions have been undertaken
  • Responsibilities are fully understood by all individuals contributing to the recovery efforts
  • Ensure all risks are thought through to ensure the test itself does not cause an unexpected disruption

Teed consultants will help facilitate discussions to allow an appropriate test schedule to be designed. It is essential that appropriate objectives are defined at the outset as this will help determine how the test/s should be undertaken, the resources that should be focused upon, the participants and resources required, the scenario/s that should be considered and other relevant information.

Consideration will also be given to assessing risks that could be caused by the test itself to ensure there is no likelihood of an unexpected disruption to the business.

An Exercise or Test Manual will then be produced detailing all necessary information to ensure effective preparation for test/s.

Teed consultants tend to take an observation role during DR tests, helping set the scene at the beginning, noting learning points, actions taken and recovery times achieved during the course of the test and then facilitating the exercise review discussions.

An independent DR Test Outcome Report will be produced that provides evidence of process adopted and recovery achieved, as well as noting actions that should be considered to ensure an efficient service recovery is achievable in future.