Professional services
Disaster recovery planning
A recovery plan written before you need it: which systems come back first, how quickly, from where, and who does what, designed and tested by the engineers who would run the recovery.
Who it is for
Businesses in Teesside and the North East that have backups but no written plan for losing the office, the server or a key system; whose insurer, auditor or customer has asked for a business continuity or disaster recovery plan; or that cannot afford to be down for days while a server is rebuilt.
What you get
A written recovery plan that says which systems come back first, how quickly, from where and who does what; the standby or recovery environment designed to meet it; and a test that proves it works, repeated every year, so the answer to "how long would we be down?" is a number you have seen.
The problem
A backup tells you the data exists. A recovery plan tells you how long the business is down.
Most businesses find out what their recovery looks like on the day they need it: the backup restores, but onto what, in what order, and how long it takes to rebuild the server it was on. A plan answers those questions in advance, for the failures that actually happen: a failed server, a lost building, ransomware that has encrypted the server and the backups on the same network.
We start with how the business runs: which systems people need first, how long each can be unavailable, and how much recent work could be lost. That sets the design: restoring to replacement hardware, recovery into our private cloud in UK data centres or into Microsoft Azure, or a standby environment kept ready to take over. Backups are kept where an attack on your network cannot reach them, as the NCSC advises.
We test the plan, write down how long each system took to come back, and fix what was slow. The first test is part of the project, and it is repeated every year, under a retainer or as a fixed fee.
What Odyssey provides
- The systems your business needs first, and how long each can be unavailable
- A recovery design to match, from restoring to replacement hardware to a standby environment
- Backups kept where an attack on your network cannot reach them
- A written plan saying who does what, in what order, with contact details
- A tested recovery, with the time each system took to come back
- Evidence for an insurer, auditor or customer questionnaire
What is included
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| Business impact | The systems people need, ranked, with how long each can be down and how much recent work it could lose |
| Design | Where each system recovers to, replacement hardware, our private cloud, Microsoft Azure or a standby environment, and what it costs to run |
| Plan | The written recovery plan, roles, order of recovery and contacts, in a form your staff can follow |
| Test | A full recovery test in the project, timed system by system, then repeated every year |
| Evidence | The plan and the test results in a form an insurer or auditor can read |
Not included, or sold separately
- The standby environment and backup service
- Quoted as their own services, so the plan is not tied to one supplier
- Non-IT continuity
- Premises, staff and supply chain planning are your business continuity owner's; we cover the technology
- Other cloud services
- Hosted accounts, CRM and similar software are listed in the plan with their vendor's own recovery terms; we do not back them up or recover them
- Insurance advice
- We provide the evidence an insurer asks for, not advice on the policy
- Incident response
- Handling an attack in progress is separate work from the plan
How it is delivered
-
Rank what matters
With you, the systems the business runs on, which come back first, how long each can be unavailable and how much recent work it could lose.
-
Design the recovery
Where each system recovers to and how, with the cost of each option, so the plan matches what the business can afford to lose.
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Write the plan
Who does what, in what order, with the contacts, in a form someone can follow at three in the morning without the person who wrote it.
-
Test and fix
A recovery run for real, timed, with what was slow fixed and the plan updated, then repeated every year.
Why trust Odyssey with this
-
In-house
All work completed by Odyssey employees, never subcontracted
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ISO
ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified by NQA
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3
Calls answered within three rings, and a director is always reachable
- Our own private cloud, in UK data centres on hardware Odyssey owns
Questions people ask
We already have backups. Why do we need a plan?
Because a backup only proves the data exists. Most of the time in a recovery goes on rebuilding what the data restores onto and deciding what to bring back first, and a plan settles both in advance.
What is the difference between disaster recovery and business continuity?
Disaster recovery is bringing the technology back. Business continuity is keeping the business running, including premises, people and suppliers. We plan the technology part and fit it into your wider continuity plan.
How quickly can we be back up?
As quickly as each system needs. How long each one can be down is agreed with you in the plan, the recovery is designed to meet it, and the yearly test shows whether it does.
Where would our systems run if our office or server was lost?
On replacement hardware, in our private cloud in UK data centres, in Microsoft Azure, or on a standby environment kept ready to take over, depending on how long each system can be down.
Does this help with ransomware?
Yes. The plan assumes an attacker may reach the network, so backups are kept where they cannot be encrypted with the server they protect, and the recovery order starts with isolating and cleaning, as the NCSC advises.
How is it priced?
As a fixed price agreed before we start, like our other professional services. The standby environment and the backup service are quoted as their own services, so the plan is not tied to one supplier.
Challenges this helps with
Related services
Ask about disaster recovery planning
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