'n Bestuurs- en metodologiese benadering tot gebeurlikheidsbeplanning vir die gerekenariseerde stelsels van 'n organisasie

M.Com. (Informatics)The-utilization of information technology is essential for an organization, not only to handle daily business activities but also to facilitate management decisions. The greater the dependence of the organization upon information technology, the greater the risk the organization is exposed to in case of an information systems interruption. Computer disasters, such as fires, floods, storms, sabotage and human error, constitute a security threat which could prejudice the survival of an organization. Disaster recovery planning is a realistic and imperative activity for each organization whether large or small. In the light of the potential economic and legal implications o fa disaster, it is no longer acceptable not to be prepared for such an occurrence today.A well designed and tested disaster recovery plan, as part of the total information security strategy of the organization, is therefore not only essential in the terms of the recovery of business functions, but for the SURVIVAL of the organization. In viewpoint above, it can be expected that disaster counterrevolutionary be standard practice for all organizations. However that is not the case. The literature study undertook, as well as exposure in practice, indicate clearly that disaster recovery planning enjoys low priority in most organizations. The majority existentialists are superficial, unstructured and insufficient and will not be successful when real disaster strikes.:The most important single cause for the failure of an organization ~ disaster recovery plan, will be that too much emphasis is being placed on the technical aspects rather than on the management or organizational aspects. The solutions an integrated approach of strategies and the multiple technologies which are available today. These strategies and technologies should be combined to meet the specific needs of the individual organization. The purpose of this dissertation was firstly to identify the most critical problems related to disaster recovery planning and secondly to provide a methodology for the development and implementation of a disaster recovery plan which addresses these problems. This methodology constitutes an enhancement on an existing information security methodology in order to establish a total information security strategy for a large organization with disaster recovery as an essential aspect of this strategy. The final disaster recovery planning methodology as proposed in this dissertation, was developed as a result of an extensive literature study undertook as well as involvement during the development of a disaster recovery system by the company which initiated this study