Defense Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Business

First Advisor

Dr. Elizabeth White Baker, Ph.D.

Abstract

Businesses lose millions of dollars every year when they can’t restore data from backups. Research shows that Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) testing is not conducted frequently enough, nor are records maintained that demonstrate full data recovery from backups. This work introduces a design science artifact called PRTOK that aims to increase DRP testing. The design science artifact is a software solution that integrates with Data Management Systems (DMS)

such as iRODS and DSpace, and can work with formats such as HDF5 and BagIt. Proof-of- recovery records, or tokens, are recorded in a replicated, resilient, and indelible proof-of- authority blockchain data structure. Access to the PRTOK blockchain allows practitioners

restoring data from any backup software program or DMS integrated with PRTOK to view metadata about restoration operations. Metadata in the PRTOK record includes validation checksums of fully restored data, timestamps, and a documented record of how the data was restored, so that restoration operations can be repeated using those instructions. PRTOK is

evaluated for validity within design science frameworks and theories, for both utility and socio- technical contributions to the state of the art in DRP testing. Qualitative data is collected from an

online survey that includes a video and an interactive demonstration of the design artifact.

Docusign Envelope ID: E4BB68B4-E66F-49EF-8B9D-F60A4B698376

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Participants in the survey are asked questions about their experience with DRP testing and whether and how the introduction of PRTOK contributes to the utility and ease of use of DRP testing processes. The evaluation of the PRTOK artifact included both feature demonstration and validation of knowledge claims against the Larsen framework for design science evaluation (Larsen et al., 2025). A socio-technical survey was also conducted to gain qualitative insights into whether and how practitioners found the PRTOK instantiation useful, whether it improved DRP testing, in what ways it was disadvantageous, and in what areas it needed improvement. The first research question (RQ1) asks what the characteristics of a data integrity model that improves data value by providing evidence of data recovery are. The feature set of the PRTOK instantiation, along with its model description, shows that these characteristics were achieved in the design and implementation of the PRTOK model. The socio-technical survey results show that the majority of respondents found the PRTOK implementation useful for DRP testing, although they also identified areas for improvement and some disadvantages of PRTOK. The second research question (RQ2) asks what risks to VDA are introduced by such a model and how those risks can be mitigated.

Rights

© 2026 Gustaf Barkstrom

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

7-30-2026

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