Building a usable backup and recovery plan
A backup is valuable only when it can restore the information your business needs. Recovery planning connects technical settings to the work people need to resume after an outage or accidental deletion.
Define what matters
Identify business-critical files, applications, email, configuration settings, and data held by third-party platforms. Assign an owner to each. Ask how much recent work the business can tolerate losing and how long each process can be unavailable. These answers guide backup frequency and recovery priorities.
Understand the boundaries
Check what your cloud applications retain and what requires a separate backup. Syncing files between devices is useful for collaboration, but it may also sync deletions or unwanted changes. Document where backups are stored, who can access them, and whether a problem affecting the primary system could also affect the backup.
Practice a restore
Select a file and a representative application or system. Restore them to a safe location and verify that someone can open and use the result. Record how long the process takes and what steps require vendor assistance. A test that exposes a gap is useful: it gives you time to correct it before an emergency.
Write a short recovery runbook
Include who decides that recovery is needed, who communicates with staff and customers, how to reach suppliers, and which systems come back first. Keep a copy accessible even if your normal network or email is unavailable. Review contact details and access procedures regularly.
Set a review rhythm
Recheck the plan when you add a system, change a vendor, move files, or change staff responsibilities. Schedule restore tests and follow up on failures. Treat backup and recovery as an ongoing business process, not a one-time purchase.
To discuss recovery priorities alongside your wider technology needs, build a technology plan.