Today, IT is a key enabler for every business. Organisations are global now and businesses need to be available all the time. Omnitech offers technologies and services in the area of DR and BCP. These services help the company’s customers in managing their IT infrastructure so that it’s always available at the desired, optimum performance level. Atul Hemani, MD, Omnitech, speaks to Biztech2.com about the pillars of an organisation's DR and BCP strategy.

What are the key focus areas for Omnitech?

We focus on key IT and tech services, which are blended together to provide meaningful services to our customers. The three core services we offer in business availability and continuity are as follows:

- Infrastructure Management Services
- Application Management Services
- Performance Management Services

How would you describe the current DR and BCP scenario?

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) are of key importance to all businesses.

Business continuity has various aspects. The first aspect is the type of disaster that occurs. Statistically, 2 percent of disasters are natural and 98 percent are manmade. Organisations will have to be available in case of all disasters. More and more organisations are now becoming aware as opposed to earlier. Today, everything has changed. Business models and needs have transformed. So today, if I walk into a bank, I know it is going to be available online 24X7, which goes on to prove the growing need for DR and BCP.

Another aspect to look at is that every organisation today is part of a global supply chain. Hence, there is a good a mount of corporate governance required to establish a sense of control. Governance and compliance are going to be the biggest drivers for DR and BCP initiatives in the times to come.

There is already a good amount of organisations that has realised the need for these configurations to be in place. There are many organisations that still need to consider this, talking about India in particular. In the recent past, many incidents have forced enterprises to think about BCP and DR. I’m expecting that in the next couple of years, it will be an imperative for most organisations.

What are some of the best practices CIOs can follow in the areas of DR and BCP?

When one talks about DR and BCP, the former comprises more of a technology strategy, while the latter entails more of a business plan.

DR has four pillars, which are:

- Data
- Equipment
- Alternate site locations and
- People

In any BCP strategy, the first thing to be considered is the people. Once the people have been safeguarded, the business needs have to be satisfied. Every business has a particular need in terms of RTO (Recovery Time Objectives) and RPO (Recovery Point Objectives). Based on the organisation’s requirements, both of these are critical. The business plan needs to be defined depending on your RTO/ RPO requirement, with respect to critical business applications. So the BCP has to be defined based on Business Impact Analysis (BIA).

CIOs should design a DR plan that covers the four pillars outlined above. Then it has to be reviewed/ tested. As business is dynamic, the BCP strategy also needs to be dynamic. It has to grow and mature to meet evolving business needs.