IT disaster recovery: Oman and Cyclone Gonu lessons learned

This paper aims to explore the issues of information technology (IT) disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity planning (BCP) in light of Cyclone Gonu in Oman.

The paper includes a survey of the latest literature on the subject, then documents a study of public and private sector organizations together with their DR and BCP practices.

The paper investigates how public and private organizations in Oman plan to respond to disasters. It shows that while some organizations pay attention to the need for DR/BCP, many do not. A significant finding is that while organizations have disaster related plans, almost half of those surveyed do not rehearse them. Nevertheless, organizations surveyed indicate that they have learned valuable lessons from Gonu. It remains to be seen whether these lessons will be turned into effective and properly deployed DR/BCP plans.

This paper draws lessons from the experiences and challenges raised by Gonu, and concludes with a set of recommendations that organizations may adopt to ensure business continuity. It provides a useful evaluation of the preparedness of IT departments in both public and private sectors in Oman. The recommendations given at the end of the paper could be of a great value for many organizations and groups, spreading awareness of the importance of being prepared for such eventualities.