Index IntroductionReasons for a Disaster Recovery PlanHow to Create/Implement a Disaster Recovery PlanConclusionIntroductionDisaster Recovery Plan, the DRP is a registered format or a procedure that a company follows with a purpose of restoring and protecting the IT infrastructure in the possibility of a risk (Kim, Lee and Kim, pp.17-31). The disaster recovery plan was established in the late 1970s as many businesses increased their need for and reliance on computer systems (Reimer, pp.289-290). In particular, the batch-oriented system was popular at the time, which in many cases could drag on and slow down for several days leading to serious damage to the organization. It is important to understand that a company cannot always avoid a disaster; however, with active planning the outcomes of a tragedy can be neutralized (Cloud Computing is an Emerging Tool for Surviving E-Business Especially in Small and Medium Enterprises, pp.1877-1880). Previous reports reinforce the concept that using a premeditated data recovery approach is possibly more cost-effective (Research on the Community Disaster Management Plan Planning Process in the Tsunami-Affected Area, pp.736-754). Additionally, reports have shown that for every dollar spent on disaster recovery plans, companies saved $4 in recovery and response. With the growth of technology and information technology (IT) systems, which have proven to be critical to the smooth functioning of the organization, there has been a growing concern to increase perpetual recovery and functioning. For example, research conducted by the Australian Disaster Management Committee and the Harvard School of Business showed that 43% of businesses that suffered a major loss of business data never reopened, and 29% were closed within 2 years (Australasian Disaster and Hazard Research Directory, pp. 8-15). Therefore, the disaster recovery plan process must be taken seriously. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Reasons for a Disaster Recovery PlanA sudden and unexpected event on a company's line of operations can heavily affect the company and interfere with the company's daily routine. However, the fundamental truth is that every organization needs a disaster recovery plan to enable it to recover quickly and continue to offer services to its customers after the risk has occurred. There are several reasons why an organization needs to have a disaster recovery plan. First, it's because downtime is expensive. According to scholars, downtime is a time or period in which a computer is not available or does not work. Previous research has shown that 20% of all organizations are victims of fires, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters each year. Likewise, within just one year, 80% of these companies will have closed their operations. The cost of IT downtime is expected to amount to $27.5 billion in lost revenue in North America alone, with large companies like Google and Twitter losing millions of dollars each week (ML Rahman, pp. 38-47 ). The chart below shows that 70% of downtime and revenue losses in North America are due to power outages, 20% due to flooding, and 10% due to human error. The second reason an organization needs a disaster recovery plan is because prospects and customers expect it. In a world of perpetual business, customers will never waitto have round-the-clock services. Any event of downtime means a lack of customer access which leads to loss of business revenue and can lead to endless outcomes such as customer defection. Mother Nature does not behave favorably. According to the World Bank report (Baruch, pp.46-47), disasters such as floods, earthquakes and tsunamis have cost the world economy over $2.5 trillion since 2000. Likewise, the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 have had their effects to this day, businesses are still struggling to recover from that tragedy. The basic point is that it's hard to say when it will happen. A data recovery plan can prove effective in times like these. The hardware and machine will always fail. There is not a single person who can withstand the failure of the Internet connection and hard drive. It is also common for most people to experience a computer crash before they can save an important file. As expensive as it may be for a company to eliminate Internet failure in a given IT framework, implementing a disaster recovery plan ensures that the risk that caused the Internet or hard drive failure does not interfere with the daily activities of the company. Google's 2016 transparency report shows that people in more than 30 countries are unable to access Google products and services at any given time due to machine and network failures (Google responds to security report of Android, pp.8-13). The report also showed that in 2016, countries such as Ethiopia and Congo were not connected to Google services for a duration of 3 days due to network outages. While different from machines, humans also have their share of losses associated with downtime. Being human is making mistakes. No matter how prudent a person may be, sometimes mistakes such as saving the wrong data or deleting an important file are inevitable. Such defects are common and are the solid solution to fix. According to research compiled by an Information Technology Commission (ICO) office in the UK, a human-oriented error causes more data loss than a malicious attack. The ICO showed that 62% of data losses were due to human errors and malicious attacks such as hacking and insecure web pages, accounting for 9%. Human error has also led to data breaches. For example, a person might send data or information to the wrong person (ICO report warns pharmacies about data protection breaches, 2017). How to Create/Implement a Disaster Recovery Plan It is important for an organization to know and evaluate the risks, threats and resource bases involved before formulating a disaster recovery plan. This can be done by brainstorming the baseline risk associated with all assets in the organization and understanding the standby loss associated with the assets. An organization can include resources such as local area documents and files, product specifications and designs, valuables and cash, and so on. In particular, an organization must consider geographic diversity when assessing threat. For example, a company based in a single location does not have to worry about the threat of an earthquake, but has to worry more about a terrorist attack. The second process of creating and implementing a disaster recovery plan is to adjust the recovery window. After assessing the threat and understanding the asset involved, an organization must take into account how long it can survive out of reach of the assets. Likewise, the recovery process can be difficult if computer resources may remain out of reach for.