While dry runs are indispensable for testing a disaster recovery plan, by their nature they are not comprehensive because they do not exercise every contingency in the plan. A disaster recovery audit, by contrast, attempts to check all the contingencies. An audit does not have the training value of a disaster recovery exercise, but it should provide a broader check of the plan's workability and value. This is particularly important when you have a Storage Area Network (SAN) in the picture, because you want to make sure the SAN is properly backed up and secured.

Disaster recovery audits can be done either internally or by outside consultants. A number of companies, such as Janco Associates now offer disaster recovery auditing program and several companies, such as, the IT Productivity Center, now offer software and checklists that can be customized for an organization is important. Customization is important because every enterprise is different and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating or auditing a disaster recovery plan. There are also books on the subject, such as Janco Associates Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity Template."

The IT-Toolkits.com web site also includes an outline of a disaster recovery plan audit at http://www.e-janco.com/DRP_BCP_Audit.html , as well as a number of other security-related checklists.

While detailed policies and procedures are indispensable for managing your security, by their nature they cannot cover every issue because you can do not know every exposure in your security procedures. A security audit, by contrast, attempts to check all the contingencies. An audit does not have the training value of a detail educational program, but it should provide a broader check of the your security policies and procedures workability and value. This is particularly important when you have a Storage Area Network (SAN) in the picture, because you want to make sure the SAN is properly secured.

Security audits can be done either internally or by outside consultants. A number of companies, such as Janco Associates now offer a security audit program and several companies, such as, the IT Productivity Center, now offer software and checklists that can be customized for an organization is important. Customization is important because every enterprise is different and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating or auditing security policies and procedures. There are also books on the subject, such as Janco Associates Security Manual Template."

The IT-Toolkits.com web site also includes a detail security audit program at http://www.it-toolkits.com/Security.htm, as well as a number of other security-related checklists.

Welcome to the Janco News Room.  These news items are updated daily,