Review these trends in IT disaster recovery planning and outsourcing

IT disaster recovery (DR) planning outlines the precautions an enterprise has taken -- and plans to take -- so that the effects of a disaster can be minimized, especially as they relate to mission-critical functions and data. Nowadays, many enterprises are outsourcing aspects of their IT disaster recovery functions to further protect data centers and cut costs.

Do you know what your organization stands to gain from outsourcing IT disaster recovery services? Review our latest content on this topic and take this quiz to see whether you'll be prepared if disaster strikes.

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1. Organizations should lay out a five-year plan with a recovery time objective that is ________, according to Bill Hughes, director of consulting services at SunGard Availability Services LP.
2. Of the 50% to 70% of organizations that develop IT disaster recovery plans, fewer than ____ actually test those plans.
3. True or false: According to Jon Toigo, CEO of Toigo Partners International, half of disaster recovery planners polled haven't told anybody that a DR plan exists in their organization.
4. The recession is putting a squeeze on budgets for outsourcing disaster recovery services. As such, CIOs are turning to _________ to reduce floor space at their leased recovery sites, according to providers of IT disaster recovery services.
5. How do current budget constraints change IT disaster recovery discussions with other parts of the business?
6. How are companies using cloud computing for IT disaster recovery outsourcing, according to Sam Gross, vice president of global outsourcing technology solutions at Unisys Corp.?
7. Organizations are increasingly moving from tape to disk-based backup. Dave Russell, a research vice president at Gartner Inc. who specializes in storage management software, said he has seen the percentage of enterprises backing up directly to tape drop from 63% to ___ over the past four years.
8. The test of an IT disaster recovery plan came fast and furiously last year for Alliant Energy Corp., a Madison, Wis.-based gas and electric company, when flood waters swept over its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, territory. What technology, not touted as a big piece of the IT disaster recovery plan, came to the rescue?

This was first published in October 2009