Question

What are the benefits of cloud computing?

What is a business continuity plan?

Why do organizations implement a disaster recovery plan before testing it?

Answer 1

Benefits of cloud computing

Cloud Computing can be defined as the process of delivering the services of computer such as server, storage, networking, databases, software and more over the internet. it helps in delivering the technologies to the consumer by using the services of internet for processing and the storage of data. cloud computing offers variety of benefits to the business such as

1. cost savings:- cloud computing helps in reducing the cost of management and maintenance of company' IT system. cost can be reduced by using the resouces which is provided by cloud computing server rather than purchasing expensive equipment for the business. the cost of operating system can also be reduced because there is no need to pay wages to the expert staff and the cost of new hardware, software and system upgrades are included in the contract.

2. improve security:- when any business wants to adopt cloud computing then the issue of security is raised but in the cloud computing security is the must and shared responsibility.security is provided by the encryption of data so that information is not or less accessible to the hackers or anyone who is not authorized to access the information.

3. flexibility:- cloud computing offers more flexibility to the business. a business has many issues if the focus of the business man is on only computer and data storage issues then he can not achieve the goals of the company and can not satisfy his customer. but it offers a flexible way to accomodate unpredictable demand and planned growth both effectively. the improved flexibility maximizes the overall efficiency of the organization.

4. mobility:- cloud computing allows mobile access to the corporate data. by using this, there is assurity that no one is left out from the loop. if the staff has the busy schdule or they live far away from the office then they can use the features of cloud computing to keep up to date with co workers.

5. increased collaboration:- collaboration is the top priority of any business. there is no use of making team if they are not able to work like a team. but cloud computing makes collaboration a very simple process. it provides collaborative social spaces to connect with the employees across the organization.

6. diaster recovery:- cloud computing offers quick data recovery. if there is no medium of data recovery or to prevent and anticipate the diaster which has potential to harm the organization then business has no meaning. but the cloud computing claims data recovery in just 4 hours or less.it can recover the data from all type of emergency' scenerio such as natural diaster to outages of power.

7. automatic software updates:- cloud computing itself update and refreash the system where it is needed. it prevents the organization to force the IT department for performing manual updation of organization. it sves the time of It staff and money too which is used in the consultation of outside IT department.

Business Continuity Plan

business continuity plan can be defined as the plan to ensure that a business can continue at the time of diaster or emergency such as fire or any other emergency in which business is not able tooperate in normal conditions. it can also be defined as the document which has information that an organization needs to continue their operation in the arising condition of unplanned event. there are many risks in the organization from natural diaster to cyberattacks to human error so that each and every organization should have business contunity plan for the preservation of health and reputation of the organization. it decreases the chances of costly outage. it involves the following

1. analysis of organizational threats

2. information about data back ups and organization site back up

3. initial data which includes importanat contact information.

4. schdule to review, test and update the plan

5. checklist and flow diagrams.

6. step by step procedures.

7. collaboration among all facet of the organization

8. information about the location where the personnel should go at the time of diaster

9. emergency response and the management

10. revision management processes ang change management procedures.

business continuity plan contains many stages such as

stage 1 initiation of the project

stage 2 gathering of information

stage 3 development of plan

stage 4 testing, maintenance and updation of plan

all in all, a successful business continuity plan is able to define the step by step procedures for response and it does not contain a lot of information such as in hundred pages infact it contains only that amount of information which is necessary in the smooth running of the business at the time of emergency or diaster.

Why do organizations implement a disaster recovery plan before testing it??

without the implementation of diaster recovery plan, organization can not test their diaster recovery plan so that implementation of DRP is necessary before testing it. in the implementation of DRP there is the creation of the report which involves assessment of each areas of risk, identification of possible security holes, formulation of plans for the management of those risk and finally listing of the steps which are to be taken in case of data diaster. if the company will not implement the diaster recovery plan then they will not find out the answers of these questions which are necessary to find out before the testing of DRP so there is the need of implementing DRP before its testing.