® 
Restore your IT
when it matters most.
A Disaster Recovery Plan describes how your IT systems and data are restored after a disruption. DEFION builds DRPs that work for the most likely scenario: ransomware that has encrypted everything.
What is a Disaster Recovery Plan?
A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is the technical counterpart of the BCP: where the BCP describes how the organisation keeps functioning, the DRP describes how IT systems and data are restored. Each critical system receives a recovery procedure aligned with BIA-defined RTO and RPO. A DRP is only valuable when it has been tested.
Recovery procedures that work under pressure
The team builds a DRP aligned with the RTO and RPO from the BIA. Each critical system gets a recovery procedure: which steps, in what order, with which dependencies and by whom. The plan includes specific cyber scenarios: how do you recover from ransomware when your entire Active Directory is encrypted?
A DRP is only valuable when it has been tested. The team facilitates DRP tests that validate whether the recovery procedures work and whether the RTOs are achievable. Many organisations discover during the first test that their backups are not usable or that the recovery sequence is wrong.
The DRP covers both on-premises and cloud environments. If you rely on SaaS or IaaS, recovery procedures for those services are included.
Most DRPs fail their first real test
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Backups that have never been tested often cannot be restored
Backup jobs may run successfully while the data they capture is unusable or the restore process is broken. Without regular restore testing, you only find out during an actual disaster.
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Ransomware recovery is different from traditional DR scenarios
Traditional DRPs assume hardware failure or data loss. Ransomware scenarios are fundamentally different: Active Directory may be encrypted, backups may be compromised, and rebuilding must occur in a clean environment. Most DRPs do not address this.
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Recovery sequence errors extend downtime significantly
Restoring systems in the wrong order causes cascading failures. The correct recovery sequence depends on dependencies that are often undocumented. A tested DRP with validated recovery sequences prevents this.
What the DRP covers
Building and validating your DRP
Inventory
IT systems, dependencies, current backup and recovery capabilities. Documenting the current state.
Gap analysis
Comparing current capabilities against BIA requirements (RTO/RPO). Where is the gap? What needs to change?
Plan development
Recovery procedures per system, recovery sequence, responsibilities. Cyber-specific scenarios for ransomware and data breach.
Cyber scenarios
Specific procedures for ransomware recovery, data breach response and full IT failure. How do you recover when Active Directory is encrypted?
Validation
DRP test with realistic scenarios. Actual recovery times measured against RTO. Backup usability verified.
Maintenance
Periodic review and update. Direct adjustment at significant IT environment changes. Annual retest.
Deliverables
- Disaster Recovery Plan
- Recovery procedures per critical system
- Recovery sequence diagram
- Backup assessment and recommendations
- DRP test results
- Executive summary
Who needs a DRP
Organisations without a formal DRP
You have backups but no documented, tested recovery procedures. This engagement builds the complete DRP foundation.
Companies with an outdated DRP without cyber scenarios
Your existing DRP was written before ransomware was a common threat. This engagement adds the cyber scenarios your plan is missing.
Organisations needing to demonstrate NIS2 or DORA recovery requirements
Both require documented and tested recovery capability. The DRP engagement delivers the required documentation and test evidence.
IT teams wanting to validate that their recovery works
You have backups and procedures but have never tested them under realistic conditions. This engagement validates your actual recovery capability.
FAQ
How do we test the DRP?
What if our backups turn out to be unusable?
How do we handle ransomware recovery?
Should the DRP also cover cloud recovery?
How often should the DRP be tested?
Know your IT will recover
when it needs to.
Build a tested Disaster Recovery Plan. Stop guessing. Start knowing.