Is a business continuity plan the same as a backup plan?

No. A backup plan addresses protected copies and restoration of information or systems. Business continuity also considers people, communications, suppliers, facilities and temporary ways to perform essential work. The plans should share business priorities, but the existence of a backup does not establish that the business can continue operating during a disruption.

What is a useful first continuity exercise for a small business?

Choose one essential activity and discuss what happens if its main system becomes unavailable. Identify who makes decisions, which information is needed, whether a temporary process exists and how customers or staff are informed. Record missing contacts and unclear responsibilities, then assign practical follow-up work rather than assuming the discussion proves recovery readiness.

Build a Business Continuity Plan Around Real Work

This guide was originally published on 2020-05-25. Its guidance was substantially updated on October 2, 2026.

Choose one essential activity

Taking customer orders, scheduling service and paying employees can depend on different systems. Pick one activity and record what it requires, how an interruption affects the business and whether a temporary manual process is practical.

Ask how much information you could reasonably recreate and how long that activity could remain unavailable. These are business decisions that help shape a technical recovery plan; a backup product should not make them implicitly on your behalf.

Account for the dependencies

List the application provider, internet connection, sign-in process and key staff involved. A restored server may not make the activity usable if the provider account is inaccessible or the person who knows the process is away.

Record a usable contact method for each decision-maker. Keep an appropriately protected copy of essential instructions available through an agreed alternative if the usual system is unavailable.

Try the plan before depending on it

Ready Business offers preparedness planning resources. Use them as a starting point, then run a discussion based on your own business: the office connection is unavailable, a key employee cannot work or a critical application has failed.

Walk through the first decisions and the work that must continue. Note unclear ownership, unavailable contacts and untested assumptions. Give each gap an owner and a follow-up date rather than treating a completed document as proof that recovery will work.

Technical restoration and business continuity support each other. They should share priorities, while still recognizing the staffing, communication and supplier issues that a technology backup alone cannot address.

Talk through the next step

Cyber Shift is led by 22 years of IT experience. Book a 30-minute call with our North Canton team about your business continuity plan.

Reference: official guidance.