Disaster recovery is not only needed for catastrophic events like natural disasters or pandemics, but for any event, like a snow storm or power outage that keeps your workers from getting to the office and disrupts your business. This white paper by business continuity expert Tim Clark of Fact Point Group, explores best practices for disaster recovery and the key role of SSL VPNs in that process.
The Remote Access Imperative in
Disaster Recovery Tim Clark, Partner The FactPoint Group May 2006 300 Third Street, Suite 10 Los Altos, CA 94022 650-233-1748 tclark@factpoint.com
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Executive Summary Recent natural disasters, terrorist activities, and the avian flu outbreak have pushed disaster recovery to the forefront for governments and enterprises. However, disaster recovery does not just refer to catastrophic events. It could be something as simple as a snow storm, power outage, local celebration, or another event that keeps your workers from getting into the office. No matter what instigates the business disruption or how extreme it is, the business impact remains the same. Disruptions to normal business operations often result in missed opportunities, lost revenue, and a damaged reputation. Every enterprise's goal in disaster recovery is business continuity-to keep core business functions operating under all circumstances. That's more and more challenging, as business threats now derive from a broad range of internal and external factors, both natural and man-made. The expected response time to a business disruption has also accelerated-employees, partners, customers, and regulators expect immediate resolution. Disaster recovery spans many sectors of an enterprise, both physical and digital. For Disaster Recovery and Remote Access: A many organizations, disaster recovery has CIO Primer meant establishing clear telephone and . A botched disaster response can hurt revenue and the corporate brand. communication links and ensuring a data storage, back-up, and recovery plan is in . Regulatory mandates on auditing sensitive place. One of the most critical aspects of a data do not disappear during a disaster. disaster recovery plan is enabling employees, partners, and other . Secure remote access plays a critical role in disaster recovery plans. constituencies to work from home or other remote locations and access critical . Equipping the backup data center with an resources and data as if they were in the SSL VPN appliance keeps business office. If a disaster recovery plan does not processes running during a disaster event. include remote access, "business as usual" is . A low-maintenance SSL VPN reduces virtually impossible. demands on IT in disaster recovery. Remote access is key to disaster recovery because typical business disruptions keep employees and other users away from the office and the local area network (LAN). For example, in the case of a widespread health crisis such as avian flu, employees may be forced to stay home because of official quarantines and travel restrictions. For organizations with a remote access solution, however, isolated employees can work productively from home as if they were in the office. One technology has emerged as the leading solution for remote access: SSL VPNs- virtual private networks utilizing secure sockets layer (SSL) security protocols. SSL VPNs are best suited for secure remote access during an emergency because they allow workers and partners to connect safely through the Internet to corporate network
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resources. This document explores best practices for disaster recovery and the role of SSL VPNs in that process. Business drivers of disaster recovery planning An enterprise must anticipate and plan for potential disasters. You can't start from scratch on the day of a disaster. At that point, it's too late. During a disaster, the inability to operate normally or provide access to critical resources can hurt revenue, damage a company's reputation, or mar the corporate brand. This is why responsibility for the once-mundane matter of disaster planning has risen from middle management to the highest echelons of the corporate hierarchy. A strong disaster recovery plan requires the involvement and commitment of both technology and business sides of an organization. Business drivers for disaster recovery planning include: . Protecting the revenue stream: A business interruption can result in lost revenue, customers, and business Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) The CHA is a local government agency responsible opportunities. That hurts virtually every to both the city of Chicago and the U.S. stakeholder-investors, customers, Department of Housing and U... [download for more]
