ABSTRACT
An effective disaster recovery plan can be developed either by a disaster recovery consultant or by in-house personnel. This chapter examines the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches to disaster recovery planning. The ideal consultant possesses a solid grasp of information systems, understands the specific requirements of the client's business, and has developed satisfactory disaster recovery plans for at least two other organizations. Disaster recovery planning requires the interaction of users and information systems personnel. Regardless of the mode of presentation employed, the primary determinant of the microcomputer-based disaster recovery planning tool's effectiveness is the generic plan that it provides. The costs associated with contracting a disaster recovery consultant, many organizations choose to develop a contingency plan in-house, either by using planning tools or by using a consultant for the initial stages of the development.
