CSC DR Testing – a Discussion Ben Scheltus 13 March, 2014 Client Logo

2March 10, 2016 Recent large waves hit the lighthouse and harbour at high tide at Newhaven in Sussex, England Source – Reuters – Luke McGregor.

3March 10, 2016 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.

4March 10, 2016 Funding & Approvals Issue/ChallengeStrategy/Mitigation Poor 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

5March 10, 2016 Planning Issue/ChallengeStrategy/Mitigation Technical 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.

6March 10, 2016 Test Execution Issue/ChallengeStrategy/Mitigation Schedule – 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.

7March 10, 2016 Reporting & Documentation Issue/ChallengeStrategy/Mitigation Organising 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. TimelinessEnsure reports are published promptly. CandourSubstantiate the bad news.

8March 10, 2016 Maintenance Issue/ChallengeStrategy/Mitigation Change managementHave 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.

9 9 March 10, 2016 End Ben Scheltus Client Logo