A backup is only one component of recovery. The real question is whether the organization can restore the right systems and information within an acceptable period.
Start with business priorities
Identify the processes that cannot stop, the systems and vendors they depend on, acceptable data loss, acceptable downtime, and the people authorized to declare an emergency.
Separate backup from continuity
Backups preserve recoverable data. Continuity also covers identity, internet, facilities, devices, communications, cloud access, vendor coordination, and temporary ways of working.
Protect the recovery path
Use separate administrative access, multifactor authentication, immutable or isolated copies where appropriate, retention suited to the risk, and monitoring that detects failed jobs and unusual deletion.
Test meaningful recovery
A dashboard showing successful jobs is not a recovery test. Restore representative files, systems, and cloud data; record the time; resolve gaps; and periodically exercise decision-making.
Make recovery objectives specific to a workflow
A recovery time objective is the desired time to resume a process; a recovery point objective describes acceptable data loss measured in time. For an illustrative scheduling system, the business might ask for restoration within four hours and no more than one hour of lost changes. These are requirements to validate, not promises a backup product automatically meets.
Test the recovery path you would actually use
Choose a representative restore and define success with the application owner. Record when work began, when usable service returned, what data was recovered, and which dependencies delayed it. Use a safe test environment and approved data handling. CISA’s ransomware guidance recommends protecting backups and testing recovery; successful backup jobs alone do not demonstrate restoration.
Prepare for unavailable people and premises
Keep contact and decision information accessible through an approved alternative when normal systems are unavailable. Identify who can authorize recovery if the primary executive cannot be reached. Include connectivity, replacement devices, identity access, and critical vendors in the exercise. Assign and retest fixes rather than filing the exercise report and repeating the same gaps next year.
Working checklist
✓Recovery time objectives
✓Recovery point objectives
✓Critical-system dependency map
✓Protected backup administration
✓Documented restoration steps
✓Scheduled recovery tests
Sources and further reading
Primary references for the topics identified below. Examples, checklists, and purchasing recommendations are editorial guidance.
- CISA: #StopRansomware Guide ↗
Preparation and recovery guidance, including protecting and testing backups.
Published by Bay Area Managed IT. Examples are illustrative; they are not provider quotes, audited results, or local market survey findings. Read our editorial approach →
Bring these questions to your next provider conversation.
Use a common scope and keep the evidence beside each answer.
Prepare your RFP →