The best football teams don’t just prepare for the game.
They prepare for the moment the game plan falls apart. An ejection, an injury, a missed assignment or a controversial call can change everything in seconds.
The teams that recover fastest aren’t starting from scratch on the sideline. They already know who leads, how they communicate and what happens next.
Businesses face disruptions the same way: suddenly, under pressure and almost never at a convenient time.
An outage, cyberattack or unexpected system failure can expose gaps that are easy to miss when everything is running smoothly. Often, those gaps come down to a few common mistakes that can turn a manageable recovery into a much longer disruption.
Mistake #1: Assuming Backups Are Enough
Backups are an important part of recovery, but they’re only one part. They can help you get your data back, but they don’t tell your team what happens next.
Your team still needs to know which systems should be restored first, who’s responsible for each step and how long the process is expected to take. Without that plan, even a perfectly usable backup can leave the business waiting while key decisions are made during the outage instead of before it.
What to Do Instead
Create a straightforward recovery plan that identifies what needs to be restored, in what order and by whom. When priorities are already established, your team and IT partner can focus on recovery instead of figuring out where to start.
Mistake #2: Not Testing the Recovery Plan
A recovery plan that’s never been tested comes with a big unknown: whether it will actually work when you need it.
Testing gives you an opportunity to find the gaps while there’s still time to fix them. You might uncover a backup that doesn’t restore cleanly, an outdated recovery step or a critical system that takes much longer to bring back online than expected.
What to Do Instead
Run through your recovery plan at least once a year and whenever significant changes are made to your technology. Treat every unexpected result as useful information. Finding a problem during a test is much better than discovering it during an actual outage.
Mistake #3: Not Defining Roles and Responsibilities
When a disruption hits, someone needs to make decisions quickly. What should be prioritized? Who needs to be notified? Who coordinates with your technology providers? What happens next?
If those responsibilities aren’t clear, valuable recovery time can turn into a round of “Who’s handling that?” while the actual problem continues.
What to Do Instead
Assign roles before an incident happens. Make sure each person understands what they own, who they coordinate with and when something needs to be escalated.
You don’t need everyone calling the plays. You need everyone to know their assignment.
Mistake #4: Forgetting About Communication
A recovery plan needs to account for people, not just systems. During a disruption, employees need to know what to do, customers need to know what to expect and vendors may need to adjust on their end.
If your normal communication tools are part of the outage, confusion can spread quickly. That’s why figuring out how you’ll communicate shouldn’t wait until email or another critical platform is already unavailable.
What to Do Instead
Create a communication plan for employees, customers and vendors. Include alternative communication methods and assign someone to own updates so information stays clear and consistent throughout the recovery process.
Mistake #5: Treating Recovery Planning as a One-Time Task
A recovery plan can become outdated faster than you might think. Employees leave, responsibilities change, new technology is introduced and business priorities shift. Unfortunately, the plan doesn’t update itself.
If your recovery process depends on old contact information, retired systems or outdated instructions, the plan designed to speed up recovery could end up slowing it down.
What to Do Instead
Set a regular schedule to review and update your recovery plan. Revisit it whenever there are significant changes to your team, systems, vendors or business priorities.
A good recovery plan should evolve alongside the business it’s designed to protect.
Recovery Favors the Prepared
Disruptions happen. The goal isn’t to build a business where nothing ever goes wrong. It’s to make sure that when something does, your team isn’t figuring everything out for the first time.
A tested plan, clear ownership and a reliable way to communicate can help prevent a disruption from becoming a crisis. Addressing these common mistakes ahead of time can reduce uncertainty, minimize downtime and give your team a clearer path back to normal operations.
Recovery planning isn’t just about having the right technology. It’s about having the right strategy behind it. VBS helps businesses identify gaps, strengthen recovery plans and build preparedness into the technology they depend on every day.
That’s Powered by Logic. Protection by Design. Preparation gives your technology, your people and your processes a game plan before the pressure is on.
If you’re not sure whether your recovery plan is ready, schedule a 10-minute discovery call with our team. We’ll help you take a closer look and build a plan designed to keep your business moving, so you can keep living long and prospering.
