Business Continuity Planning After a Cyber Attack
How operational SMEs can keep delivering when systems are down or under attack, and how to build the plan that makes it possible.
After a cyber attack the question that matters most is not how fast IT can recover. It is whether the business can keep delivering to customers while they do. Business continuity planning is what answers that question, and most operational SMEs do not have a meaningful one.
Start with what cannot stop
Identify the two or three operational outputs your business absolutely must keep delivering. Build everything else around protecting those. For a haulier that is usually dispatch. For a warehouse it is goods in and goods out.
Manual workarounds matter
When systems fail, paper, phones and pre-printed forms still work. Test them once a year so the team actually knows how. Most operational staff are very capable of this if the leadership sets it up in advance.
Roles, authorities and decisions
Write down who makes which decisions in a crisis. The middle of an incident is the worst time to discover the answer is unclear. Run through the plan with the people named in it.
Suppliers and customers
A good plan covers supplier failure and customer communication, not just internal IT outage. Pre-agreed comms templates and an established communications channel speed everything up.
Rehearse the plan
A tabletop exercise once a year with the leadership team will surface every weakness in the plan. Fix what you find. Repeat. The plan gets sharper every cycle.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as disaster recovery?+
No. Disaster recovery is the IT side. Business continuity is broader and includes people, premises and process.
How often should we test the plan?+
Annually as a minimum, with a lighter desk-check every six months.
What is the most common gap in SME plans?+
Out-of-band communications. When email and Teams are down, most teams discover their plan relies on email or Teams.
Next step
Want to talk this through?
Book a free 30 minute consultation. No sales pitch, just clear answers.
Book free consultation