The EC-Council 312-76 exam is also known as the EDRP test. Individuals who are interested in attaining the EC-Council Certified Disaster Recovery Professional certification have to pass it. This designation is intended to affirm that a specialist has the competence to ensure business continuity after a disaster. For this, they have to understand how the business operates and the risks that it faces.

Who It Is Designed for

Generally, IT experts who work as disaster recovery consultants can take the EDRP exam. Also, system administrators, risk managers as well as consultants in IT, and information security officers can attempt it. Furthermore, it is best suited for firewall plus network administrators, risk assessment professionals, including evaluators of security protocols.

Exam Details

This 4-hour test has 150 MCQs. Plus, candidates have to pay $100 eligibility charges, and a registration fee of $450 is mandated. In addition, passing the exam in question requires a score of at best 70%.

Domains Tested in Real Evaluation

The EDRP 312-76 exam covers several topics that evaluate your knowledge of disaster recovery that will enhance the continuity of a business. Thus, the subjects that are checked by the concerned test are:

• The basics of disaster recovery plus business continuity (9%);
• Risk evaluation (7%);
• Business effect analysis as well as business continuity design (12%);
• Strategies for data backup (17%);
• Data recovery policies (37%);
• Planning procedures for disaster recovery (10%);
• BCP evaluation, management, along with training (8%).

The first subject area focuses on the overview and trends related to disaster recovery as well as business continuity. Also, candidates will be tested on the best approaches to disaster recovery together with the continuity of the business. Further, they will have to know the outline of Business Continuity Management and the standards as well as the best practices of the same.

The second topic looks at an outline of risk plus its expressions. Next, students need to comprehend the procedure of assessing risk. Also, knowledge in qualities and best practices in the management of risk is assessed in the official EDRP exam.

The understanding of Cost-Benefit Analysis, as well as Business Impact Analysis, is what the third domain is all about. Also, skills on the standards related to BIA and how to carry them out are tested in the third tested topic. Thus, candidates of the EDRP evaluation have to know what a Business Continuity Plan entails. Furthermore, the same individuals have to know the plan for the business continuity scheme.

The fourth subject matter for the 312-76 exam is concerned with the concept of backing up data. Besides, it involves the RAID technology that is essential to providing redundancy in IT systems, and candidates should be cognizant of SAN as well as NAS. Also, they should be able to describe the various types of data backup, and knowledge of cloud data along with disaster recovery are discussed in this domain as well. Further, candidates should know what infrastructure technologies are applied in data backup. To conclude, a good comprehension of the continuum of data protection as well as the best practices associated with backup is also captured among the contents of this topic.

Next, the official EDRP evaluation concentrates on what data recovery encompasses. This includes the procedures plus the best approaches used in recovering data. It also tests a candidate’s know-how of data recovery that is based on virtualization and goes on to examine knowledge of the standards as well as best practices of virtualization. Candidates also need to have a good comprehension of system recovery. Further, they should know what centralized together with decentralized computing is all about. And lastly, this domain tests comprehension regarding centralized backup, the consolidation of data, as well as storage systems that are survivable.

The sixth domain focuses on two competencies that takers of the EDRP should have. In particular, one is on what a disaster recovery organization is. The other focuses on the procedures and methods used in planning for disaster recovery.

The final module concentrates on the evaluation of the Business Continuity Plan, otherwise known as BCP testing. The chapter also includes knowledge of the maintenance as well as the audit of the BCP. The final skill candidates should have before opting for the 312-76 exam is associated with the BCP testing, management, and training.

Career Prospects

The advancement in technology has brought about many vulnerabilities and risks that companies have to counter. For example, data breaches and data loss are some of the problems that can lead to major disruption of business activities. And for this reason, organizations are encouraged to have plans that will help them to recover. This has resulted in more demand for disaster recovery professionals who can come up with plans that will ensure business continuity. Overall, there are many employment opportunities in the job market for Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Specialists, and professionals in this position command pretty decent salaries for their skills. For example, PayScale.com indicates that their average salary stands at $77,900 per year. To add more, IT professionals who pass the EDRP 312-76 evaluation are responsible for coming up with plans for disaster recovery and coordinating efforts to meet this goal. Their value in organizations is ever-increasing because of the rising number of challenges that organizations face in terms of data security.

Next Step after Acing Concerned Test

As more disaster recovery experts are required in organizations, more professionals are bound to join this field. This will bring more competition that will result in the need to improve skills in order to stand out. EC-Council, however, does not have another disaster recovery certification. As such, there are many more other certificates in this space that you can pursue. This will improve your career prospects as you will be more attractive to employers. However, your skills are not limited to disaster recovery as it is also possible to attain certifications in other areas of interest in IT such as cybersecurity. The IT industry is always evolving and professionals have to keep up with it. For this reason, it is important that you find jobs that will allow you to use the skills you have. This is important because the most valued aspect of a professional is experience. Furthermore, employers encourage experts to attain as many certifications as possible. It makes your CV more visible and attractive to recruiters. Also, develop professional networks because it is one way of learning from accomplished experts. Thus, you can still explore another certificate with EC-Council such as the Certified SOC Analyst (CSA) or an alternative vendor that will promote your aspirations when it comes to career development.