Before something goes wrong.
WHAT TO PREPARE
Who responds, and how they are reached What systems exist and who owns each Where credentials and access are held How to revert a deployment How to restore from backup Who to tell
WHY IN ADVANCE
Decisions made during an incident are worse and slower.
WHAT TO DOCUMENT
A short procedure, not a long plan.
WHERE TO KEEP IT
Somewhere reachable when your systems are not.
Printed, and stored independently.
WHY
A plan stored only in the system that failed is not a plan.
WHAT TO INCLUDE
Provider contact details and account references Escalation contacts The rollback procedure The restore procedure
WHAT TO DRAFT IN ADVANCE
The message you would send to customers.
WHY
Writing it during a crisis produces a worse message, later.
WHAT TO TEST
That you could actually follow the procedure.
HOW OFTEN
Annually, and after any significant change.
