What a disaster recovery plan actually is

A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a documented procedure for restoring your business operations after a disruptive event — hardware failure, ransomware, flood, fire, or any other incident that takes your normal systems offline.

For small businesses, a DRP doesn’t need to be a complex document. It needs to be accurate, accessible (available when systems are down), and tested. A two-page plan that’s current and tested is worth more than a 40-page plan that was written three years ago and never reviewed.

The scenarios to plan for

Start by identifying the realistic disaster scenarios for your business:

  • Ransomware or malware: Your computers are encrypted and inaccessible
  • Hardware failure: A critical computer, server, or network device fails
  • Data loss: Files are accidentally deleted and need to be restored
  • Office inaccessibility: Fire, flood, or other event makes your office unusable
  • Key person unavailability: The person who manages IT is unavailable

For each scenario, document: what’s affected, how you detect it, what steps you take to recover, and who is responsible.

The core of the plan: your recovery procedures

For each scenario, document the specific steps. For ransomware, the steps are:

  1. Immediately disconnect affected computers from the network (unplug ethernet, turn off Wi-Fi)
  2. Do not pay the ransom without consulting a specialist
  3. Contact your IT support or MSP
  4. Identify the most recent clean backup
  5. Wipe affected machines and restore from backup
  6. Change all passwords that may have been compromised

Document these steps specifically for your environment: where is the backup? Who is the IT contact? Where are credentials stored for recovery?

Making the plan accessible

A disaster recovery plan stored on a computer that’s been encrypted by ransomware is inaccessible when you need it. Store your DRP in at least two places: printed and in a physical location, and in a cloud location accessible from any device (Google Drive, personal email).

Review and update the plan every 6 months or whenever your IT environment changes significantly.