Is Your Business Continuity Plan Ready?

Creating a Business Continuity Plan is an essential first step, but a document on a shelf will not keep the business running. Resilience is proven in practice. Regular exercising is the only way to confirm that your systems, processes and people can operate through disruption and recover within acceptable timeframes. In this article we outline realistic scenarios you can use to test your plan, along with a practical checklist to prepare teams, validate assumptions and close gaps before an incident does it for you.

Why Testing Matters

Testing your BCP helps to:

• Identify gaps or weaknesses before they become costly failures.

• Verify that continuity objectives, such as Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), are realistic and can be met in practice.

• Test the organisation’s response to varied disruptive events.

• Drive continuous improvement by updating plans based on outcomes.

• Boost stakeholder and client confidence by proving readiness.

According to Mitratech, 56% of organisations do not conduct full-scale simulations, and only 40% have tested in the past year, indicating that regular practice remains relatively rare.

Suggested Testing Scenarios

A robust BCP should be tested against a range of scenarios. These scenarios do not need to be exhaustive, but they should challenge the organisation across different domains: technology, people, facilities and external dependencies. Below are detailed examples.

Data Loss and Cyber Incidents

• Ransomware attack locks access to key files.

• Accidental deletion of a shared database by an employee.

• Corrupted backups discovered during restoration attempts.

One of the most common and disruptive threats is a loss of data, whether through ransomware, accidental deletion or corrupted files. Testing should simulate how quickly systems can be secured, how effectively teams isolate the issue, and how well data can be restored. The key focus is ensuring recovery aligns with RTOs while maintaining clear and timely communication with stakeholders.

Data Recovery from Backups

• Simulate complete server failure in a critical system (e.g., payroll or finance).

• Attempt a full restore from cloud backups or an off-site storage location.

A backup is only valuable if it can be restored successfully. This scenario involves simulating the loss of a critical system and attempting a full recovery from backups. The test should highlight whether data is intact, how long restoration takes and whether staff can continue operations during downtime. The goal is to confirm backup processes are reliable and meet business requirements.

Extended Power Outage

• Building experiences a multi-day power cut after severe weather.

• Backup generators or Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units are engaged but only cover certain functions.

A multi-day power cut can paralyse operations, especially in offices or data centres without sufficient backup capacity. Testing should explore how long essential services can run on generators or UPS, what processes can continue on reduced power and how staff are enabled to work remotely. The focus is on ensuring the business can function at an acceptable level until normal power is restored.

Network or Telecommunications Outage

• Simulate a total failure of the organisation’s internet service provider (ISP).

• Consider both on-site connectivity and VPN access for remote staff.

An internet or telephony failure can halt communication and disrupt both customer service and internal coordination. Testing might simulate a complete ISP outage or VPN failure, requiring staff to use alternative channels such as mobile networks or satellite phones. The focus is on redundancy and ensuring business-critical operations can continue even if primary communications fail.

Physical Facility Disruption

• Fire alarm triggers an evacuation mid-business day.

• Flooding renders the primary office unusable for weeks.

• Workplace inaccessible due to a police cordon following an incident nearby.

Events such as fire, flooding or a police cordon can make a workplace inaccessible at short notice. A continuity test should practise evacuations, relocation to an alternative site or full adoption of remote working. The focus is not only on keeping services running, but also on safeguarding staff wellbeing and ensuring everyone knows the procedures during a real disruption.

Workforce Disruption

• Sudden illness outbreak (e.g., influenza or COVID-19) reduces staff availability by 30%.

• Industrial action leads to key team members being unavailable.

The sudden absence of key staff, due to illness, transport strikes or industrial action, can leave critical functions under-resourced. Testing should assess whether cross-training, succession planning and remote work arrangements are sufficient to maintain operations. The focus is on the resilience of people and processes, ensuring the organisation is not overly reliant on a handful of individuals.

Supply Chain Interruption

• Critical supplier of raw materials fails to deliver due to bankruptcy or transport delays.

• Logistics provider experiences a strike, preventing shipments.

• Third-party software vendor outage, where a critical SaaS platform (e.g., CRM or ERP system) becomes unavailable.

Businesses are often only as strong as their suppliers. A continuity test might simulate the sudden loss of a critical supplier or a major delay in deliveries. This helps identify how quickly the organisation can switch to alternative vendors, renegotiate timelines or adjust production priorities. The focus is on maintaining customer commitments despite external disruption.

Severe Weather and Natural Disasters

• Storm causes widespread flooding, affecting transport routes and physical access.

• Earthquake damages regional infrastructure.

• Heatwave overloads cooling systems in data centres.

Storms, floods, earthquakes or prolonged heatwaves can all affect facilities, infrastructure and employee safety. A test in this area should simulate the impact of extreme conditions, assessing emergency communications, access to premises and the resilience of IT and cooling systems. The focus is on ensuring continuity of service while safeguarding people during environmental disruptions.

Reputation or Regulatory Crisis

• A data breach becomes public, attracting media attention and customer complaints.

• Regulator demands urgent proof of compliance after a suspected breach.

Not all disruptions are physical or technical. A publicised data breach or sudden regulatory challenge can threaten trust and compliance. A test should rehearse crisis communications, legal coordination and escalation procedures, ensuring leadership can respond quickly and transparently. The focus is on protecting the organisation’s reputation while demonstrating accountability to regulators and clients.

Tabletop ‘Surprise’ Scenario

• Run a tabletop exercise where leadership are only told the scenario at the start (e.g., “It’s Monday morning and all email systems are down due to a suspected cyber-attack.”)

Sometimes the most valuable test is a tabletop exercise where the leadership team is only told the scenario on the day. This format encourages decision-makers to think on their feet, collaborate in real time and adapt established procedures to an evolving crisis. The focus is on agility, leadership and clear decision-making under pressure.

Business Continuity Plan Checklist

Here’s a high-level checklist to help you create your organisation’s BCP.

Disaster Response Team

• Appoint a BCP manager and establish a clear governance structure.

• Define roles, responsibilities and alternates for critical functions (IT, facilities, HR, communications, finance).

• Maintain updated contact lists for internal staff, leadership and external partners.

• Document escalation paths: who makes decisions, and when.

• Provide training and ensure team members know how to access the plan quickly.

Identify Essential Business Services

• Catalogue critical processes and systems that keep the organisation running, such as customer service, payroll and order fulfilment. Include the IT systems, infrastructure and equipment that support these.

• Map dependencies between systems, suppliers and staff.

• Prioritise services based on business impact if disrupted.

• Identify single points of failure and evaluate mitigation strategies.

Risk Assessment & Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

• List potential risks such as cyber-attacks, power loss, natural disasters, supply chain failures and regulatory breaches.

• Assess the likelihood and potential impact of each scenario.

• Define Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) for critical processes.

• Quantify potential financial, reputational and compliance impacts.

Develop Recovery and Contingency Plans

• Document response steps for different disruption scenarios, such as IT outage, facility loss, workforce shortage or supplier failure.

• Define strategies for short-term workarounds and long-term recovery.

• Establish procedures for relocating operations to alternate sites or remote working.

• Build in flexibility to adapt to unexpected scenarios.

• Define the strategy for communicating with stakeholders.

Define Recovery Objectives & Disaster Recovery Site

• Ensure RTOs and RPOs are realistic and align with business priorities.

• Identify and test secondary sites (hot site, cold site, cloud-based) if premises are unavailable.

• Confirm the resilience of IT infrastructure, including failover arrangements.

• Document activation criteria: when and how to trigger use of the disaster recovery site.

Protect Workloads and Data

• Implement a robust backup strategy, such as the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, two media types, one off-site.

• Test restoration regularly to confirm data integrity and speed of recovery.

• Secure backups against cyber threats, keeping offline or off-network copies where appropriate.

• Protect key workloads with redundancy, cloud replication or high-availability setups.

Communication Strategy

• Prepare pre-approved templates for emergency messaging to staff, customers, regulators and media.

• Maintain multiple communication channels, such as email, SMS, messaging apps and phone trees.

• Maintain updated contact lists.

• Assign responsibility for internal updates and external communications.

• Ensure staff know where to find updates, for example on the intranet, a hotline or a secure portal.

Training, Testing & Updating

• Schedule regular BCP drills: tabletop, simulations, partial and full-scale tests.

• Train staff in their roles during disruptions, including alternates.

• Capture lessons learned from tests and incidents to refine the plan.

• Update the plan whenever there are organisational, technological or regulatory changes.

Document & Review

• Store the BCP in multiple accessible formats: digital, cloud and printed copies.

• Ensure the latest version is distributed to all key stakeholders.

• Record test outcomes, decisions made and updates to procedures.

• Set a review schedule, for example quarterly or biannually, to keep the plan current.

• Audit compliance against standards, such as ISO 22301, where applicable.

A BCP is only as robust as its testing regimen. Practising realistic, varied scenarios, from cyber-attacks to supply chain failures, helps to ensure not only survival but also continuity of service. Coupling scenario testing with a comprehensive plan checklist fosters resilience, clarity and confidence.

How AJC Can Help

AJC designs and runs realistic business continuity exercises that fit your risks, people and operations. We plan the scenario, facilitate the session, and turn findings into a clear action plan.

• Scenario design and exercise planning

• Independent facilitation, on site or virtual

• Post-exercise report with prioritised actions and timelines

Ready to test your plan? Learn more about our Business Continuity Scenario Testing service.

Contact us on 020 7101 4861 or email us at info@ajollyconsulting.co.uk if you think we can help.

Sources
https://mitratech.com/en-gb/resource-hub/blog/how-testing-improves-your-business-continuity-plan/
https://www.nakivo.com/blog/business-continuity-plan-checklist/https://agilityrecovery.com/article/6-scenarios-business-continuity-plan-testing/
https://mitratech.com/en-gb/resource-hub/blog/6-testing-scenarios-for-business-continuity-plans/
https://mitratech.com/en-gb/resource-hub/blog/ensuring-production-quality-business-continuity-planning-for-manufacturers/
https://www.nakivo.com/blog/what-is-a-business-continuity-and-disaster-recovery/
https://agilityrecovery.com/article/essential-tabletop-testing-exercises-resilient-businesses/

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