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Reciprocal Agreement

Reciprocal agreements are a bi-directional agreement between two organizations in which one organization promises another organization that it can move in and share space if it experiences a disaster. It is documented in the form of a contract written to gain support from outside organizations in the event of a disaster. They are also referred to as Mutual Aid Agreements (MAAs) and they are structured so that each organization will assist the other in the event of an emergency.

Note

In the US military, Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is located in Miami, Florida, and Central Command (CENTCOM) is located in Tampa, Florida. For years, each command had a reciprocal agreement with one another in the event of a natural disaster. If SOUTHCOM had to evacuate because of a hurricane warning, all critical operations would be transferred to CENTCOM’s Tampa location. Of course, there was a flaw with that plan. What would each command do if the same natural disaster threatened both locations? This occurred during Hurricane Andrew. Homestead Air Force Base (the headquarters for SOUTHCOM) was completely destroyed and the hurricane also crippled the Tampa, Florida, area closing MacDill Air Force Base (the home of CENTCOM). Since then, each command must have emergency operations centers located outside the Southeastern United States.

Mobile Site

Mobile sites are “datacenters on wheels”: towable trailers that contain racks of computer equipment, as well as HVAC, fire suppression, and physical security. They are a good fit for disasters such as a datacenter flood, where the datacenter is damaged but the rest of the facility and surrounding property are intact. They may be towed onsite, supplied power and network, and brought online.

Mobile datacenters are typically placed within the physical property lines, and are protected by defenses such as fences, gates, and security cameras. Another advantage is that personnel can report to their primary site and offices.

Subscription Services

Some organizations outsource their BCP/DRP planning and/or implementation by paying another company to perform those services. This effectively transfers the risk to the insurer company. This is based upon a simple insurance model, and companies have built profit models and offer services for customers offering BCP/DRP insurance. Cloud-enabled disaster recovery service providers have become increasingly common to the point of having their own cloudified nomenclature, DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service).