Business Continuity and Crisis Management

Disaster Recovery for IT Systems

IT disaster recovery restores systems and data after outages, cyber attacks or site loss. This course covers DR planning: system criticality, recovery strategies, backup and replication, cloud recovery options, DR runbooks, testing, roles and integration with business continuity.

5 days Classroom or live online English

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Take the course details with you.

Download the full standard outline: why attend, methodology, objectives, audience, competencies, the daily outline and current plans.

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Why attend

From knowledge to real-world impact.

Many organisations discover their backups do not work only during a disaster. You will learn to build and test reliable IT recovery.

Workplace challenges

Professional Problems This Course Is Designed to Solve

The programme explores practical approaches to the following challenges. Results depend on how the learning is applied in your organisation.

Difficulty translating subject knowledge into practical workplace decisions.
Inconsistent approaches to the activities covered in the course outline.
Lack of a structured plan for applying and reviewing new skills.

Course methodology

How you will learn.

Strategy comparison exercises, runbook development, DR test planning and case studies.

Course objectives

What you'll take away.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Assess IT system criticality and dependencies
Select disaster recovery strategies
Design backup and replication approaches
Use cloud-based recovery options
Write DR runbooks
Plan and run DR tests

Target audience

Who should attend.

This course is suitable for:

IT managers and infrastructure staff
Disaster recovery coordinators
Business continuity managers
IT auditors
Cloud architects

Target competencies

Capabilities you will build.

Participants will develop competencies in:

Criticality assessment
Recovery strategy
Backup design
Runbook writing
DR testing

Course outline

Your learning journey.

A focused, practical outline with time to explore, apply and reflect.

Day 1Disaster Recovery

09:00–10:08Threats to IT
10:08–11:00DR and continuity
11:00–11:30Coffee break
11:30–11:45DR and continuity (continued)
11:45–12:53Objectives
12:53–14:00Exercise

Day 2Strategies

09:00–10:08Hot, warm and cold sites
10:08–11:00Replication
11:00–11:30Coffee break
11:30–11:45Replication (continued)
11:45–12:53Cloud recovery
12:53–14:00Workshop

Day 3Backups

09:00–10:08Backup design
10:08–11:00Immutable backups
11:00–11:30Coffee break
11:30–11:45Immutable backups (continued)
11:45–12:53Restore testing
12:53–14:00Exercise

Day 4Runbooks

09:00–10:08Runbook structure
10:08–11:00Roles
11:00–11:30Coffee break
11:30–11:45Roles (continued)
11:45–12:53Communication
12:53–14:00Drafting

Day 5Testing

09:00–10:08Test types
10:08–11:00Running tests
11:00–11:30Coffee break
11:30–11:45Running tests (continued)
11:45–12:53Lessons learned
12:53–14:00Action plan

The timings provided are estimates and may vary depending on the number of participants and the discussions taking place during the sessions. They are indicative only and do not constitute a binding commitment.

Dates & venues

Find a session that works for you.

Confirmed dates accept registration requests. Tentative dates are enquiry only.

Good to know

A few things to know.

How is the course delivered?

Our classroom programmes combine facilitated discussion, case studies, exercises and reflection. The precise format will be confirmed before enrolment.

Can you deliver this programme for our team?

Yes, you can enquire about a tailored programme. Share your goals, group size and preferred dates with our learning team.

Will I receive a certificate?

Participants who complete the programme receive a Smart Horizon UK certificate of attendance. Smart Horizon UK programmes are not externally accredited and do not award a professional qualification, licence or designation. Where a course title or outline refers to a professional certification (for example, AACE International's Certified Cost Professional), the programme supports learning and preparation only; the credential itself is awarded solely by the relevant professional body under its own application and examination requirements.

What should I confirm before booking travel?

Please confirm the session, exact venue, accessibility arrangements, fees and any visa requirements with the team before arranging travel. Tentative dates are not confirmed sessions.

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