Overview
Background
Applications staff have not been able to review disaster recovery documentation and procedures, and execute a DR test, in the last few years, thus increasing the level of technical debt and leaving University priority services at risk in case of major disasters.
The strategic plan is to have regular annual Disaster Recovery projects that will bring us to a level where our Disaster Recovery plans are well understood, the required processes documented and elements of the tests have been tested as far as possible.
This project will pick up and build on previous plans for regular DR testing, and it will deliver a significant Disaster Recovery test which reflects the loss of a High/Medium level service to test the efficacy of our testing plans.
Scope
This project’s focus is to review the DR documentation for the University’s priority services managed by IS Applications, this is to include Top and Medium Priority Services. Please note where any of these services are managed by an external supplier (e.g. Cloud-based) we will document those components that are shared and collaborate with the owning infrastructure area, such IT Infrastructure, to link to their documented Disaster Recovery Plans where suitable.
The project will also conduct a Disaster Recovery test on (at least) one of the above services in order to check the procedures for a test.
Out of scope
Disaster recovery documentation and testing for any services that are not managed by Applications.
Objectives and Deliverables
| No. | Description | MoSCoW | Owner |
| O1 | To review and update Disaster Recovery plans, where required, for each of the applications noted as top and medium priority services | ||
| D1 | For each Top and Medium priority service have a DR document/plan - there must be a written document on how to recover that application. This may link to existing documentation. | Must | Project team |
| O2 | Review Disaster Recovery plans in established central repository and communicate any changes to appropriate support teams | ||
| D2 | Review master DR documentation | Must | Project team |
| O3 | To carry out a Disaster Recovery test on (at least) one of the above services in order to check the procedures for a test | ||
| D3 | Completed DR test on the TEST environment of an appropriate service | Must | Project team |
| D4 | Updated technical documentation reflecting the results of the DR test | Must | Project team |
Benefits
- This project will identify any potential gaps in project and/or support documentation and inform possible changes to process for completion of technical documentation
- Reduce any reputational risk to IS Applications to support Top and Medium Priority Services in the event of a Disaster recovery situation
- All key technical resource within IS Applications and IT Infrastructure have a central information source with up to date application and component relating to Disaster Recovery
Success Criteria
- All priority services to have an up to date Disaster Recovery plan
- For Disaster Recovery documentation, the availability of a "Golden Copy" Central Repository, which has ease of access for information for key resource involved in Disaster Recover activities
- A successfully completed DR test and accompanying documentation
Project Milestones
| Stage | Milestone | Due Date | Previous Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Planning Sign-off | 23-Mar-2022 | No date available |
| Analyse | Updates to documentation | 30-Jun-2022 | No date available |
| Deliver | Disaster recovery test completed | 15-Jul-2022 | No date available |
| Close | Project closure | 28-Jul-2022 | No date available |