SAS ITThe Number One Problem with DR Plans: They Do Not Exist Until After the Disaster
Every week in Dubai, a business suffers an IT disaster — ransomware, server failure, ISP outage, or data corruption. Those with tested DR plans recover in hours. Those without can take days or weeks.
Step 1: Define Your RTO and RPO
RTO (Recovery Time Objective): How long can your business operate without IT before you lose clients or revenue?
| Business Type | Typical RTO Tolerance |
|---|---|
| E-commerce or SaaS | Under 1 hour |
| Professional services | 4 to 8 hours |
| General SME | 24 to 48 hours |
| Low IT dependency | 48 to 72 hours |
RPO (Recovery Point Objective): If you recover but lose some data, how much data loss is acceptable?
- 24-hour RPO: daily backup is sufficient
- 4-hour RPO: backup runs every 4 hours
- Near-zero RPO: replication to secondary site required
Step 2: Identify Your Critical Systems
List every IT system and classify it:
| System | Business Impact if Down | Recovery Priority |
|---|---|---|
| High — client communication | Priority 2 | |
| ERP / accounting | Critical — operations stop | Priority 1 |
| File server | High — work stops | Priority 1 |
| CCTV | Low — can operate without | Priority 3 |
| Phone system | Medium | Priority 2 |
| Internet / firewall | Critical — everything stops | Priority 1 |
Step 3: Write a DR Runbook for Each System
A runbook is a step-by-step guide that ANY staff member can follow during a crisis. It removes the dependency on one key IT person who may not be available.
For each critical system, document:
- What the system is and what it does
- Where to find backup data or replacement hardware
- Step-by-step restore procedure
- Who to call if you cannot follow the steps
- Estimated recovery time
Step 4: Define Your Disaster Scenarios
| Scenario | DR Response |
|---|---|
| Single server failure | Restore from local backup to replacement hardware |
| Ransomware attack | Isolate network, restore from offsite backup, rebuild from clean state |
| Full office fire or flood | Activate cloud DR site, work remotely, contact insurer |
| ISP outage | Activate 4G failover via secondary router or SD-WAN |
Step 5: Test Your Plan
Annual full DR test: Simulate a server failure. Restore production data to test hardware. Measure actual time against your RTO target.
Quarterly backup restore test: Restore a sample of data. Verify it is complete and usable.
Monthly: Review and update the runbook for any system changes.
DR Infrastructure Costs
| Solution | Setup (AED) | Monthly (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| Local backup only | 3,000 to 8,000 | 0 |
| Local + cloud backup (Azure) | 5,000 to 12,000 | 200 to 500 |
| Veeam + cloud DR replication | 12,000 to 25,000 | 500 to 1,500 |
| Active-passive failover site | 30,000 to 80,000 | 2,000 to 5,000 |
Disaster Recovery Plan: Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between RTO and RPO? RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is how long the business can operate without IT before losing clients or revenue; RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is how much data loss is acceptable if you have to recover from an earlier backup point.
What is a DR runbook and why does it matter? A step-by-step recovery guide for each critical system that any staff member can follow during a crisis — it removes dependency on one key IT person who might not be available when disaster strikes.
How often should a disaster recovery plan actually be tested? An annual full DR test simulating a real failure, a quarterly backup restore test, and a monthly review of the runbook for any system changes — a plan that's never been tested is a document, not a plan.
What does basic DR infrastructure cost for a Dubai SME? Local plus cloud backup (Azure) typically runs AED 5,000 to 12,000 to set up plus AED 200 to 500 per month; a full active-passive failover site costs significantly more, from AED 30,000 to 80,000 setup.
SAS IT builds and tests disaster recovery plans for Dubai businesses. Free DR review | +971-526716178
Related: Backup vs Disaster Recovery: What You Need | 3-2-1 Backup Method Explained | Managed IT Services Dubai | Server Solutions Dubai
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About the Author
Reviewed by Mustafa Husain, Founder of SAS IT Services, with 10+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, networking, and security — alongside the same engineers who design, install, and support the work described on this site. SAS IT Services was founded on 22 February 2020 in Dubai and has since delivered 500+ projects for businesses across the UAE.
We specialize in Fortinet, Cisco, and Microsoft, among 17 vendor product lines we regularly install, configure, and support across networking, cybersecurity, CCTV, and cloud infrastructure — hands-on experience that informs the technical guidance in our articles.
Our work is independently rated 5.0 out of 5 from 17 verified Google Reviews. Every article is reviewed internally for technical accuracy before publishing and reflects practices we apply on real client deployments in Dubai and the UAE.
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