ITS Contingency Planning Policy

Policy Statement

To ensure that University business can continue in the event of a disaster, disaster recovery plans for all University information systems will be developed and tested on a regular basis.

Entities Affected By This Policy

All areas of Information Technology Services responsible for the administration and/or maintenance of a University information resource.

Contacts

EIU Information Security 217-581-1939

Principle

Contingency Plan

All areas of ITS that are responsible for the administration and/or maintenance of information resources must develop a contingency plan for those resources. ITS information resource contingency plans must contain:

• • A list of individuals responsible for system recovery
  • Contact information for these individuals
  • A list of responsibilities for these individuals
  • A list of hardware required for recovery
  • A list of software required for recovery
  • A list of system and/or data backups for recovery
  • A list of any secondary or redundant systems for recovery
  • A detailed explanation for the steps required for recovery
• The manager overseeing the area(s) responsible for the administration and/or maintenance of the information resource is responsible for reviewing contingency plans, approving all contingency plans, and distributing copies of the plans to the ITS Disaster Recovery coordinator
• All contingency plans will be collected by the ITS Disaster Recovery Coordinator and stored in the department's ITS Disaster Recovery Plan
• The ITS Disaster Recovery Plan must include:
  • A list of emergency service contact information
  • A list of the various ITS Disaster Recovery Teams, including:
    • Names
    • Contact information
    • Responsibilities
  • The stated goal of the ITS Disaster Recovery Plan
  • Procedures for initiating all or any part of the ITS Disaster Recovery Plan
  • Procedures for documenting disaster recovery procedures
  • Procedures outlining disaster recovery test response testing
  • All information resource specific disaster recovery plans
  • All disaster recovery plan tests and the outcomes
  • All actual disaster recovery responses and the outcomes

Contingency Training

• All areas of ITS must train individuals tasked with information resource recovery to ensure these individuals are aware of their roles and responsibilities outlined in information resource contingency plans
• All contingency training exercises must include simulated events to facilitate effective response and uncover unknown issues prior to a crisis situation

Contingency Plan Testing and Exercises

• ITS will conduct annual contingency plan tests and/or exercises of some set of information resources, as determined by the ITS Disaster Recovery Management Team
• Contingency plan tests and/or exercises must be conducted after major information resource changes and/or changes to the recovery procedures
• All contingency plan tests and/or exercises must be constructed to simulate the failure of the primary information resource and/or a failure of the main operations area housing University information resources
• Contingency plan tests and/or exercises must follow established recovery procedures for all information resources involved in the test/exercise, including the use of secondary and/or redundant resources and/or locations
• The ITS Disaster Recovery Management Team will review the results of all contingency plan tests and/or exercises and will initiate any corrective actions necessary

Contingency Plan Update

• The ITS Disaster Recovery Management Team will review the department contingency plan at least annually and institute any changes that need to be made
• Immediately following each contingency plan test and/or exercise, the ITS Disaster Recovery Management Team, as well as the team responsible for the specific information resource(s) tested, will review the outcome of the test/exercise and determine which corrective actions to take, if necessary

Alternate Data Center

• The ITS Disaster Recovery Management Team will continue to assess the viability of establishing a secondary data center to house secondary and/or redundant systems for recovery use during crisis situations

Related Documents

ITS Disaster Recovery Plan

Supporting Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

TBD

Last Date Reviewed: 6/1/2026