CSC

DR Testing – a Discussion

Ben Scheltus13 March, 2014

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2 May 14, 2023

Recent large waves hit the lighthouse and harbour at high tide at Newhaven in Sussex, EnglandSource – Reuters – Luke McGregor.

3 May 14, 2023

Format of Today’s Discussion

• DR Testing broken down into discrete stages of the testing lifecycle.• For each stage, identify issues & challenges. • Openly discuss ways to address or mitigate impact.

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Funding & Approvals

Issue/Challenge Strategy/MitigationPoor understanding by management on value/purpose of DR testing.

Leverage BIA. Applicable regulations?Executives sign off on DR Strategy & required investment.

Generally, purpose and value of DR is not well understood.

Value business processes in the BIA and use it to build the business case.

A DRP exists – but never tested properly.

Highlight exposure and importance of testing in a changing environment.

Estimating the effort. Regularly collect previous testing cost data

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Planning

Issue/Challenge Strategy/MitigationTechnical recovery procedures development.

Start early, follow up regularly and highlight their importance.

Scheduling a new system test into a large on going program.

Management approved test schedule. Defined in policy? Lock down scope tightly.

Criteria for retesting a system that has been tested previously.

Establish in DR Strategy. Clear definitions.

Timing of new systems test. Carefully consider key activity dates in the organisation. Well communicated and approved test schedule

Type of test – simulation or failover. Many small tests or one big one?

Consider maturity of organisation, previous experience and availability of skilled resources.

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Test Execution

Issue/Challenge Strategy/MitigationSchedule – time of day, day of week? International time zones.

Consult widely with the business. Defined in the Test Plan document.

Appropriate participation by stakeholders.

Early buy in from the business

Communications & escalations. Communications plan agreed in advance with milestones and contact lists.

Scope creep. Locked in scope in Test Plan. Gaps identified during test are documented and included in future test.

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Reporting & Documentation

Issue/Challenge Strategy/MitigationOrganising Test Reports. Regularly revisit suitability of structure

and be adaptable to change if necessary.

Appropriate detail. Importance of Executive Summary and conclusions.

When things don’t work as planned. Unemotional language in report. You test to identify issues.

Timeliness Ensure reports are published promptly.

Candour Substantiate the bad news.

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Maintenance

Issue/Challenge Strategy/MitigationChange management Have clearly established rules for what

size/scope of change warrants a re-test.Change management systems.

Maintaining currency of DRP. Regularly review document.

Maintaining compliance. Track changes in regulations.

Rapidly changing business environment.

Regularly revisit BIA.

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End

Ben Scheltusbscheltus@csc.com

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