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When “Business Continuity” Meets Reality: Disaster Recovery in the Cloud Era
By Tom Brignell, Senior Expert at IMIG Consulting
Recent cyber incidents have exposed a truth; most disaster recovery plans look solid until they’re tested. Assuming they can even be accessed when disaster strikes!
The recent disruptions faced by major UK manufacturers have been a sharp reminder of how dependent modern operations have become on technology. Production stopped not because of a flood or a fire, but because systems, data and visibility vanished in an instant.
Ticking the Box
Most manufacturers have a disaster recovery plan, but many would admit they haven’t properly tested it. Too often it’s a document that satisfies compliance rather than a plan that drives action. When an incident hits, that gap between paper and practice becomes painfully clear. The nature of disruption has changed. Physical risks still exist, but digital dependency has created a new type of vulnerability. The shift to cloud-based systems has delivered speed and scalability, but it has also concentrated risk, one outage can halt everything.
No such thing as “one-size-fits-all”
There is no single blueprint for disaster recovery. Each organisation must decide how far to go, how much redundancy is worth the cost, and what manual processes remain viable. It’s a balancing act between resilience, practicality and investment. The only way to find the right balance is through testing. Plans must be challenged, not assumed to work. Running real scenarios, rehearsing responses, and identifying weak points builds confidence and capability long before a crisis happens.
What is right for you?
A practical disaster recovery plan doesn’t need to be elaborate. It needs to be relevant. That means keeping essential records accessible offline in hard copies, backing up data in multiple locations, knowing which operations must continue under any circumstances. Most critically of all, it means making sure you have the disaster manual, hard copy in hand, ensuring everyone understands their role.
True resilience isn’t about avoiding disruption altogether, that’s impossible. It’s about understanding where you’re vulnerable, making informed trade-offs, and being able to recover quickly and decisively when something fails.
How can IMIG help?
At IMIG, this is what we focus on when supporting clients with disaster recovery planning. Our experience shows that the most effective plans are those tailored to the business, robust enough to withstand shock, yet grounded in operational reality. The goal is always the same: a recovery strategy that balances cost and practicality, built on what genuinely works when the pressure is on.
So, when was the last time your disaster recovery plan was tested? Not reviewed – actually tested?
Let’s talk about how to strengthen your disaster recovery plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How often should a disaster recovery plan be reviewed or tested?
At least once a year, but ideally after any major system change, process update, or incident. The plan should evolve with your business and technology, not sit still. - What’s the biggest mistake organisations make with disaster recovery?
Treating it as a document, not a discipline. Plans that look good on paper often fail under pressure because they haven’t been tested or communicated clearly.
- How detailed should a disaster recovery plan be?
Detailed enough that people can act on it confidently, but not so complex that it becomes unusable. The best plans focus on the critical few actions that keep the business operating. - Is moving everything to the cloud enough protection?
No. Cloud solutions improve flexibility but also create new dependencies. A good plan recognises that technology can fail and includes practical workarounds if it does. - What does a balanced approach actually look like?
It’s about proportionate preparedness. Not over-engineering every risk, but investing where it matters most, in the systems, people, and processes that keep the business running.
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