Disaster Recovery

1. Disaster Recovery Steve Bearden The Prism Partnership

2. What We Will Cover • Why Disaster Recovery Planning • Prevention: Key Design Strategies • Preparation: Contingency Planning • Recovery: Putting It Back Together Three Threads of Data Privacy & Security

3. Why Disaster Planning? A good Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) can save guest experience, revenue and resources. An effective DRP will: • Minimize potential economic loss • Reduce disruptions to operations • Ensure organizational stability • Provide an orderly recovery • Protect the assets of the organization • Ensure the safety of personnel and guests • Minimizing decision-making during a disastrous event

4. Who’s Doing It Right? In a survey conducted by Comdisco, Inc., one of the largest disaster recovery companies, it is estimated that: • 45% of companies maintain a formal DRP • 12% have an effective DRP • 6% are partially prepared • 82% are ineffectively prepared for a technology disaster

5. What Goes Wrong?

6. Data Center DR Design • Location – avoid water and public areas • Security – proper access policies • Climate – independent HVAC on generator • Fire – dry pipes • Power – clean power on UPS and Generator

7. Operations DR Design Power to strategic locations is key – Front Desk, Restaurants, Housekeeping, PBX….

8. Outsource??

9. The Plan Every hotel has different characteristics: • Systems • Location • Flag Programs Therefore: Every plan should be property specific

10. Plan Documentation • Plan ownership – IT/Operations • The Plan should be documented in written form, with hard-copy printed versions readily available to hotel management in strategic locations • Know your processes and have forms & supplies available to operate manually • Detailed systems design – document make and model of equipment and software for easy restoration or remote site conversion

11. Know Your Equipment

12. Communications • Notification list • Contingency Team – Escalation List • Key management / Alternates • Home / Cell • Emergency contacts • Sample letters from Management

13. Vendor Management • Vendor contact escalation list • Have vendor contracts available • Maintenance contracts / SLA’s • Ensure appropriate severity levels in your contracts to meet contingency expectations • Alternate Location – corp offices, sister property or “Hot site” hosted location?

14. Backup Data! • Data Backup • Tape or Optical • Off-Site Storage • Remote backup across internet to hosted backup service? • Real time? • Save at least two recent generations of back-up (i.e., last night and last week) • Store in a fireproof safe in a remote location • Back-ups should be periodically verified • Test restores periodically

15. Backup Reports • Run PMS contingency reports hourly • Spool them to a Laptop • Sample chronological control reports: • All guests in-house, checked-out or expected today with balance • Every room in the hotel with the current occupancy status • Expected arrivals/departures for next five days • A room availability report

16. PMS Reports

17. Contingency Supplies Contingency operations require paper forms and supplies • Laptop w/contingency forms • Pre-printed Registration cards • Room status log • Reg card / Folio “buckets” • Credit card imprinters • CC Authorization terminal • Generator / Measured business line • Calculators • Flashlights Forms and supplies should be stored in a secured location with ready access when needed

18. The Outage • When an outage occurs, the Manager On Duty should first alert the Contingency Team • The contingency team leaders meet ASAP to determine type of outage • Brief Outage < 6 Hours • Short term - > 6 hours < 2 days • Long Term > 2 days

19. Brief Outage < 6 Hours • Contingency team will alert the management team and affected departments • Department management will call in more staff – front desk, housekeeping coordinators, night audit, accounting • Distribute copies of the most recent contingency reports – (copier on emergency generator) • Distribute radios to key personnel, especially if telephone service is affected

20. Brief Outage < 6 Hours • Distribute contingency supplies • Centralize the room inventory function with a single individual located at or near the Front Desk, essentially a “rack clerk” to assign rooms for arrivals and coordinate with Housekeeping • Update the Contingency Reports with all arrivals, departures, etc as they occur • As guests check-in, advise PBX to enable outbound calls • Centralize the revenue/F&B posting function with a single individual

21. Short term - > 6 hours < 2 days Implement brief outage procedures plus: • Letter from the General Manager to all guests • Alert staff to come in early and plan to stay late • Transcribe beginning balances from Contingency Reports and all room charges to hard copy guest folios • Use pre-printed folio forms for contingency Operations • Maintain room status sheet from the contingency reports

22. Short term - > 6 hours < 2 days • Use a laptop (on generator) to maintain an Excel worksheet to facilitate changing statuses – FD / Housekeeping • Maintain constant communications with Housekeeping • Distribute updated telephone lists with arrivals and departures for operators • Prepare for a manual Night Audit • Post room and tax manually to the paper folios

23. Short term - > 6 hours < 2 days • Manually create housekeeping assignment sheets during the Night Audit for housekeepers • As checkouts occur, settle the balances manually • Advise guests that the system is down and that a copy of their folio will be sent to them after the system is restored • Be certain to capture addresses and email to honor this commitment • Each cashier needs to balance their cash and credit card receipts to their cashier’s report at the end of their shift

24. Long Term > 2 days Implement brief & short term procedures plus: • Continue updating revenue and status forms in laptop or on manual forms • Establish a room revenue control sheet in Excel to capture room revenue as it is posted by hand to the hard copy folios • Use this sheet, plus the room charge control sheets to generate a basic revenue report

25. Long Term > 2 days • Secure current availability and expected arrivals reports from the CRO • Store all control sheets (Arrival/Departure; Posting; Cashier Control; Room Revenue) in an accordion file by day to facilitate recovery processes

26. POS / Restaurant If just PMS is down, settle checks to “House” If POS down: • Issue a small supply of checks to servers recording the serial numbers • Consider going to a limit menu or buffet • Make CC Authorization terminal available (generator / analog line) • Remind kitchen personnel to make meals only from the soft copies • Use cashiers rather than allowing servers to self-cashier

27. POS / Restaurant • Adjust both staffing and guest expectations accordingly • Have cashiers maintain a manual control sheet (cashier’s report) for all closed checks by meal period or shift • After each shift, reconcile the used checks with kitchen dupes and unused checks • Beverage outlets should draw a line under each drinks order as they make it • Bartenders record immediate sales over the bar onto a single control sheet • Alternatively, instruct bartenders to do a “blind drop”

28. Locking System Maintain an inventory of contingency key cards, often called “fail-safe keys” • Keep secure but available • 3 generations • Log in and out

29. Telephone System Outage • Power fail bypass trunks • Analog telephones – patch panel? • Letter to guests • Post floor monitors

30. Interfaces Down • Check guests into PBX • In-room Entertainment – Enable Movies • Call Accounting – Post only $$ calls? • Watch the buffer – old calls to new guests? • Voice mail or manual? • If VM, check out guests for next guest

31. Recovery • Restore backup tapes • Input all sequential activity and charges • Enter data from backup-forward • check in/out - run night audits • Post charges • Continue to operate manually until data restored

32. Remote Site (Yikes!) If the hotel must be closed then you need to get your remote site operations underway. • Set Up “War Room” for contingency communications • Set up telephone center and network • Staff remote site • Reroute hotel/reservation call traffic • Get equipment ordered as needed • Install PC’s and distribute supplies • Set up and load most recent PMS backup

33. Test Test Test Your DRP Annually At a minimum!

34. Questions?