What is Disaster Recovery?
Disaster Recovery (DR) is the set of processes and technologies through which an organisation prepares to restore critical systems, data and processes after a serious disruption — such as a cyber attack, power outage or human error.
Disaster Recovery is an essential element of a continuity strategy, particularly in environments where IT and OT converge.
🎯 Examples of Disaster Recovery scenarios
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Cyber attack | Recovery from Ransomware, DDoS or system sabotage |
| Natural disasters | Data centre failure due to fire, flood or earthquake |
| Human error | Deleted configurations, corrupt databases or incorrect software updates |
| Technical failure | Failures in servers, network equipment or power supply |
| OT incidents | Recovery of PLC configurations or SCADA systems after an outage |
🧯 When is Disaster Recovery needed?
Disaster Recovery is invoked when:
- Primary systems are unavailable
- Backups or redundant systems must be activated
- The continuity of operations is at risk
- You must comply with requirements from NIS2, ISO 27001 or sectoral regulation
🔁 Backup vs. Disaster Recovery
| Backup | Disaster Recovery |
|---|---|
| A copy of data | A complete restoration process for systems, networks and data |
| Focused on data preservation | Focused on business continuity |
| Manual recovery | Automated and tested recovery scenarios |
| Part of the DR plan | The overarching strategy that includes backups |
🔐 What are the steps in Disaster Recovery?
- Risk analysis and business impact assessment
- Determining RTO (recovery time) and RPO (data-loss margin)
- Designing recovery procedures per system type
- Regular testing of recovery (e.g. through tabletop or failover tests)
- Training of personnel and documentation
- Continuous improvement based on incidents or simulations
🏭 Specifically in OT environments
- Recovery of PLC logic or control configurations
- Backup and recovery of SCADA systems and HMIs
- Network segmentation to limit outages
- Integration with physical redundancy (such as backup power or failover hardware)
📌 In summary
Disaster Recovery is the key to rapid recovery from digital or physical disruption. In OT and IT convergence environments, it requires an approach that safeguards both digital and operational continuity.