A formalized document that captures the planning, execution, and results of exercises designed to validate an organization’s ability to recover from disruptive events. It provides a structured framework for documenting objectives, procedures, findings, and recommendations following a simulation of a failure scenario. For example, such a document would detail the process of restoring critical applications and data from backup systems to a secondary site, and assess the time required and the completeness of the recovery.
This documentation plays a pivotal role in ensuring business continuity by identifying weaknesses in current strategies and providing actionable insights for improvement. Regularly conducting and documenting these tests helps organizations minimize downtime, maintain data integrity, and meet regulatory compliance requirements. Historically, the creation of these documents has evolved from simple checklists to comprehensive reports reflecting the increasing complexity and criticality of IT infrastructure.
