Posted by Rick Fowler, Director of Mainframe Services
Unplanned outages are the bane of our existence in the mainframe world. It is very important that companies have a strategy for managing outages and minimizing the impact to the business. I recently read an article in IBM Systems Magazine that breaks down the common points companies need to consider when creating a backup and recovery plan. Vitse, C. (n.d.). Five Points to Consider When Preparing for Backup and Recovery. Retrieved July 06, 2017, from http://www.ibmsystemsmagmainframedigital.com/nxtbooks/ibmsystemsmag/mainframe_20170708/#/42.
The article cites the following as the five points companies should consider while creating a comprehensive backup and recovery plan:
- The importance of the data on the system
- How often the data changes
- Lifecycle of the data
- If this data is required for system recovery
- When this data should be backed up
I believe that number one is the key step in this process. Having a thorough understanding of the data that resides on the system and its multitude of unique requirements is critical to crafting a backup and recovery plan that offers maximum protection. Clients need to identify what would happen if their data was corrupted or lost and then IT mainframe professionals can assist in identifying what it takes to get that data back online and define the recovery point objective.
The article notes that the type of data drives the backup plan in terms of whether it is for compliance or recovery. Companies that do business with the government must store compliance data for a specified period of time. This is a major consideration in deciding the most appropriate method to use for backup.
No one wants to take a chance on having their data set corrupted or lost. Companies need to understand their data and how it relates to achieving business continuity. A carefully crafted and comprehensive backup and recovery plan is a vital part of assuring that even in the face of an unplanned loss, critical business operations can continue smoothly.
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