There are some disruptions that have long-term effects. These cause an organization to close operations at a given site for a long period. The contingency plan should provide options to continue business operations in an alternative facility.

There are three types of alternative sites: sites owned by the organization, sites acquired through agreements with internal or external entities, and sites commercially acquired through leases (7). Alternative sites are categorized based on their readiness to continue business operations. Cold sites are those that have all the adequate supportive resources for the carrying out of IT operations. The organization, however, has to install the necessary IT equipment and telecommunication services to reestablish the IT infrastructure. Warm sites are partially equipped and maintained in a state where they are ready to continue offering the moved IT systems. However, they require some preparation in order to be fully operational. Hot sites are adequately equipped and staffed to continue with IT operations when the main site is hit with a disaster. Mobile sites are transportable office spaces that come with all the necessary IT equipment to host IT systems. Lastly, mirrored sites are redundant facilities that have the same IT systems and data as the main site and can continue operations seamlessly when the main site is facing a disaster.

The following is a summary of the alternative sites in ascending order of their readiness to continue with operations:

• Cold sites
  • Have the supportive resources ready 
  • Require the installation of IT equipment and telecommunication services
• Warm sites
  • Partially equipped and kept in a ready state
  • Require preparation through staffing to be operational
• Hot sites
  • Adequately equipped and staffed to continue with IT operations
• Mirrored sites
  • Exact replicas of the main sites