As you know, managing any type of system at a financial institution can be tricky business. You need to protect your customers’ data and maintain your customers’ trust—no matter what.

But what happens when disaster strikes? It could stem from anything like human error or a natural disaster or a cyberattack. Is your institution prepared to recover from something like this?

At Global IP Networks, we are a tenacious team of IT professionals who are committed to helping you protect your customers' trust. In this blog, we’ll provide insight into the potential IT disasters for financial institutions like yours. We’ll also dive into another important topic—the legal and regulatory requirements for disaster recovery in Dallas/Ft. Worth financial institutions and beyond. To help you be better prepared for when disaster strikes, we’ll also discuss the essential elements of a disaster recovery plan.

Potential IT Disasters in Financial Institutions

Your financial institution may face any number of IT disasters, including these below.

• Loss of customer data.As a financial institution, one of your top goals is protecting your customers' confidential information. A breach of this data can be costly in terms of regulatory fines and lost business.
• System downtime.Companies cannot function without access to their financial systems—that is, downtime can lead to a loss of productivity and money for your customers.
• Business continuity.Business failure puts a financial institution's owner in a tough spot: Do you allow clients access while trying to fix issues, or hope that nothing happens? It might be better to shut down all services until you resolve the disaster.

Requirements for Disaster Recovery in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Beyond

Financial institutions are subject to various legal and regulatory requirements when developing a disaster recovery plan. The first step in creating a disaster recovery plan is understanding the applicable regulations. Here are the most common regulations as well as their specific requirements that financial institutions must fulfill to remain in compliance.

• Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA). This requires financial institutions to protect their customers' information and keep it private. You can accomplish this by implementing a data security plan that includes disaster recovery and business continuity measures.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This requires financial institutions to protect cardholder data by implementing security controls such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (FDICIA). This requires banks to have a disaster recovery plan in place that will allow them to resume operations within 24 hours.
• Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). It requires public companies to establish, document, and maintain a system of internal controls.

Key Elements of a Disaster Recovery Plan for Financial Institutions

1. Planning and Preparation

Planning and preparation means having a trusted IT team like Global IP Networks that is responsible for implementing and maintaining the disaster recovery plan (DRP). The disaster recovery team of a financial institution should be well-prepared for any emergency. Having a disaster recovery plan in place and testing it regularly is essential.

2. Data Backup and Recovery

Data backup and restoration is the process of backing up your data so that you can recover it after disaster strikes. This may be an emergency system for restoring critical servers or just regular backups to keep offsite at another location.

It's important to have a backup plan in place if disaster strikes and your data is lost or damaged. Set up a location and establish the frequency of the backup, too.

3. Business Continuity

Disaster recovery includes critical business functions like finance and accounting. Businesses cannot afford to wait for IT teams to resolve their financial transactions or other time-sensitive matters requiring immediate attention.

Global IP Networks ensures you get back to work quickly, with a comprehensive recovery plan that accounts for all critical plans in your operations.

4. Regulatory Compliance

Disaster recovery is no longer just about keeping the lights on. Financial institutions must also deal with regulatory requirements when a disaster strikes, which may involve anything from maintaining accounting records to providing up-to-date financial reports.

Global IP Networks Provides Excellent Disaster Recovery in Texas and Across the Globe

A disaster recovery plan should be one of the top priorities for any organization, especially for financial institutions. It protects the data and systems that keep your company running, and therefore, it deserves just as much attention as financial planning or operational strategy.

At Global IP Networks, we keep your net working. We know how important trust is to our customers' businesses and we understand how devastating it can be to lose access to all of your information for even an hour, let alone days on end. That's why our solutions are designed with reliability in mind from the ground up; they provide seamless integration between physical, virtual, and cloud technologies without compromising performance or security standards.