Before you need it.
WHY PREPARE
Decisions made during an incident are worse and slower.
WHAT THE PLAN NEEDS
Who leads
Who to contact: bank, host, insurer, adviser
Where backups are and how to restore them How to reach customers and staff without your usual systems What to record
THAT LAST POINT
Times matter for notification obligations.
KEEP IT SHORT
A page or two. Long plans are not read in a crisis.
WHERE TO KEEP IT
Reachable when your systems are not.
Printed, and stored somewhere independent.
WHAT TO DRAFT IN ADVANCE
The message you would send to customers.
Writing it during a crisis produces a worse message, later.
WHO SHOULD HAVE IT
Anyone who might need to act.
WHAT TO TEST
Whether you could actually execute it.
HOW OFTEN TO REVIEW
Annually, and after any incident.
WHAT MAKES A PLAN USELESS
Being out of date, or nobody knowing it exists.
