Critical Dimensions of Disaster Recovery Planning

Abstract

Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) emerged in the 1970s, during the era of electronic data processing when mainframe systems were used to crunch data and provide reports for business analysis. The importance of DRP is undeniable especially after the 911 terrorism attack and many natural disasters experienced by many countries; much effort has then poured in to maintain a set of workable DRP. However, though high investment is allocated for information technology and DRP, there are still IT service outages interrupted the business, crippled the operations and impacted the overall organization long term strategic plan. Questions arose on why DRP could not ensure an uninterrupted IT service environment. This paper aims to study the critical dimensions impacting the development and maintenance of DRP process, specifically to understand the dimensions that contribute to a successful DRP that aims to minimize the impacts of IT service outages. This study used a theoretical model, technology-organization-environment framework (TOE) to explore the adoption of DRP process in financial institutions in Malaysia. Following IT service management concept, individual components that comprise of trading partner readiness, staff competency, roles and responsibilities were included in the study. This study evidenced that 8 dimensions were critical for the implementation of DRP, in which 2 of 3 individual components being studied were part of the lists. These 8 dimensions could be used as guidance for future successful DRP rollout and its ongoing maintenance activities; with the ultimate objective to minimize outage duration of IT services that support critical business.

Navigating turbulent waters: The impact of business continuity management (BCM) practices on financial and nonfinancial performance of tour operator companies

“…BCM practices influence on financial performanceThis study's results revealed a significant and positive impact of MS, OP and the ECP on financial performance, aligning with established research findings byChow (2000),Chow and On Ha (2009),Hoong and Marthandan (2014),Järveläinen (2013),Nguyen et al (2021) andSaha et al (…”

“…First, this study noted that MS is critical in affecting organizational success, which justifies its inclusion as one of the key BCM practices. Specifically, Chow (2000), Chow and On Ha (2009), Hoong and Marthandan (2014) and Jarvelainen (2020) discovered that MS is critical in influencing organizational performance's success.…”

“…Järveläinen (2013),Hoong and Marthandan (2014) andAbu Bakar et al (2015 challenge this presumed connection. Their investigations revealed an unexpected outcome-an insignificant relationship between OP and organizational performance in BCM.This contradiction between expectations and results highlights a nuanced understanding of the dynamics at play.…”

Business Continuity Management and the Influence of Strategic Factors: The Case of Private Security Companies in Kenya

“…Strategies that can be used for continuity planning are not having any person to fill positions of a company, but also by attending to factors related with a culture promoting preparedness strategies which need to be inculcated in the organization's management, a need for relevant skills and behaviours and responsibility over business continuity strategies (Hoong & Marthandan, 2014;Tracey, 2017;Yukl & Mahsud, 2010).As for company resources (CR), the results have shown that CR and BCMhave a positive and significant relationship, which implies that regardless of the industry, all companies must invest in and provide adequate resources which will ultimately create and support efficient BCM routine plans that would be valuable in the long run.This result is consistent with previous findings that reported thatcertain resources for instance human capital, has a significant role to play in all crisis management phases(Aljuhmani and Emeagwali, 2017) and their effective and efficient deployment was found to have a positive correlation with practices directed towards BCM (Shuja & Abbasi, 2015). However, the aforementioned researchers further caution that if organisational resources are not equitably mobilised and shared, business continuity would be negatively affected in the event of a disruption.Furthermore, the positive and significant beta coefficients for this relationship are further supported by previous findings of Almarri and Gardiner (2014) who stated that companies which are able to mobilise financial resources with all its planning and implementation processes sustain their competitive advantage which help develop a bond with fruitful BCM, and as such experience endurance and determined survival (Herbane, 2010).…”

“…As a strategic practice of modern management, BCM proposes that organizations should identify and anticipate future competitive advantage (Alesi, 2008;Herbane, 2010;Selden & Perks, 2007), the significant effects of strategic planning and/or business continuity plans have been established (Ongas, 2013). Researchers such as Hoong and Marthandan (2014) and Ghandour (2014) have considered critical dimensions impacting the development and maintenance of (BCM) and the environments and organizations, there is a notable research gap with regard to private-security service related research in general, and the Kenyan context in particular (Adamou, 2014;Ongas, 2013;.Moreover, regardless of the sector (public or private), and given the strategic nature of the private security sector in a developing economy such as Kenya, BCM remains an important general subject for consideration among leaders, practitioners, managers and researchers (Hoong & Marthandan, 2014;Zhang & McMurray, 2013).…”