Question:
Hi,
I was wondering if you could tell me how organizations deal with budgeting for DR based on critical systems and forecasted growth, then a project comes along and by the time that it gets to the point of being put up for production there are new servers, dasd, etc that have not been accounted for. My question I guess is how do organizations deal with unexpected changes that cause the DR budget to rise throughout the year?
Answer 1:
Many of our clients put together a cushion budget to allow for the unexpected.
Other clients have a charge back proceedure in place and the business units are charged a service fee for DR.
Ms. Michael C.
Redmond, CBCP, FBCI,CEM
Senior Manager, BCM
KPMG
mredmond@kpmg.com
office: 212.954.7572
cell: 917.882.5453 Fax: 212.872.2155
Answer 2:
Good question, but, sadly, not an infrequent question.
The best defense is a good offense. It sounds like the DR or BCP components for the project were not figured into the design and costing of the project and hence, the full cost to business was not given to the parties signing off on the original project. Sounds like a project management issue from a corporate perspective. If you could have DR and BCP costs figured into all projects before they are approved and participate in the project as it moves along its' development this may be prevented in the future. Certainly not as easy as it sounds but that is the best solution moving forward. Bottom line, make sure that within your company's project management methodology, that BCP/DR are at least a line item!
Your immediate
problem, however, is about your current situation. The business has really
three choices:
1. Do nothing (I certainly don't recommend this one, but ultimately it's
a business risk decision)
2. Wait until the next budget cycle to include the needed components (the
business risk is there, but mitigated eventually)
3. Gain approval to purchase the needed equipment now (my favorite, but
I'd have to imform the business owners of the project of the extra costs
since it should become part of the projects cost overages (not IT); chat
with the project manager and work on keeping this from happening again)
There is no painless solution, but this will definitely be a "lesson learned" by management and the project team(s) so that in the future, they will include incorporating DR and BCP in the beginning stages of a project.
Jean Bennajma
Business Pathfinders, Inc
(804)301-6403
The responses reflect the views of the individual EAB member, and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employers, the DRJ, or the EAB as a whole.