Planning Approaches

There are three ways that you can approach planning:

In the top-down execution and responsibility, one department in the company is responsible for planning and coordination for all departments. With this method, you might have a centralized operations staff that is responsible for all or most of the computers running Windows NT Server, and for doing all of the backups. This method enables you to create a group with specialized, expert knowledge for developing procedures, procuring and installing hardware, doing testing, and training personnel. The disadvantage to this approach is that the specialized group might not understand how a particular department's data relates to the overall business. Each department is just one of many, and therefore might not get the appropriate attention.

In the bottom-up execution and responsibility, each department is responsible for developing its own plans and implementing them. Each department would probably be responsible for all of the computers that they use, and would develop their own backup procedures. The impact of the loss of a department's data is better understood by the department's management. However, this approach might cost more, because each department needs to have its own personnel and to do its own research.

In top-down policy and bottom-up planning and execution, one department or group develops the overall planning guidelines. Each department is responsible for developing its own plans and procedures. The individual departments are also responsible for implementing their procedures. With this method, there is a consistent approach, and each department knows what details are important to its successful operation.

Whichever approach you use, continuous improvement and updates are better than total rewrites as new information, policies, procedures, and the like become available.