In disaster recovery planning, prevention means enacting measures in advance that lessen or eliminate the effects that a disaster can have on critical business processes. Here are some examples:
- Emergency power: An organization may be able to mitigate the effects of a disaster by investing in emergency power generation equipment that can produce electricity, even when public utilities are unavailable for several days or longer.
- Multiple communications paths: If you recognize that disasters often cause communications disruptions, you may be able to mitigate this risk by investing in secondary and tertiary communications capabilities that may continue functioning, even if primary facilities are damaged.
- Backup computers in another city: A business that services customers over the Internet may be able to provide those services from virtually anywhere, if those capabilities were designed-in from the beginning.
Although none of the measures in the preceding list prevent disasters, those measures can help an organization continue operating after a disaster takes place. All of these measures require advance planning and investment. The time to equip an ocean liner with life jackets is before it leaves port, not after the ship starts sinking.
