In our last article, we issued a mid-year wake-up call to review and strengthen your Business Continuity Plan (BCP), but a BCP isn’t proven until it’s tested. A paper plan is just theory — its value emerges only under pressure. Now it’s time to move from planning to proving by testing your plan under controlled conditions.

A poorly prepared test can be worse than no test at all — it creates chaos, demoralizes your team, and fosters a false sense of security. This article is your blueprint for preparing to test your BCP, ensuring the process is organized, insightful, and ultimately strengthens your crisis response capabilities.

Why Meticulous Preparation is Non-Negotiable

A full-scale BCP test is a dress rehearsal for disruption. Without clear roles, objectives and logistics, a test can create more risk than insight. Poor preparation can waste time, disrupt live systems, yield vague data or damage team morale.

• Without proper groundwork, you risk:
• Wasting Resources: A disorganized test burns time and focus without yielding valuable insights.
• Disrupting Operations: An uncontrolled test can accidentally impact live systems, creating a real incident.
• Generating Flawed Data: Vague objectives lead to vague, unactionable lessons.
• Damaging Team Confidence: A chaotic test can leave participants feeling less prepared and more anxious.

From Tabletop to Full-Scale: Setting the Stage

This progression follows the “crawl-walk-run” model of readiness. Your BCP review process should start with a tabletop exercise — the “crawl” phase. This discussion-based session allows your team to walk through a hypothetical scenario to identify procedural gaps and communication flaws in a low-stakes environment.

Once you’ve addressed the findings from your tabletop, you are ready for a functional or full-scale test — the “walk” or “run” phase. This is an action-based simulation where teams use their actual tools and procedures to respond to a mock disruption, which requires far greater preparation.

Blueprint for Testing: Scope, Objectives and Scenarios

A successful test starts with a detailed plan developed by coordinators and approved by leadership

1. Define the Scope: You can’t test everything at once. Decide exactly what is “in play,” whether it’s recovering a single application, testing a department’s response, or simulating a data center failover.

• Good Example: “This test will simulate a ransomware attack, encrypting our primary CRM database. Scope includes the IT infrastructure and Sales Operations teams. Goals are to validate the data restoration process and confirm sales can use manual workarounds.”
• Bad Example: “We’re testing our response to a cyberattack.”

2. Set SMART Objectives: Your objectives must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART). They provide clarity on what success looks like and are the basis for your post-test evaluation.

• Objective 1: Validate IT can restore the CRM database to the recovery server within the four-hour Recovery Time Objective (RTO).
• Objective 2: Confirm 95% of the Sales team can be notified and assembled on the emergency communication channel within 30 minutes of incident declaration.
• Objective 3: Ensure the Sales team can process at least 10 manual orders per hour using documented workaround procedures.

A well-run test doesn’t just validate your plan — it builds confidence, sharpens response, and strengthens organizational resilience.

3. Develop a Realistic Scenario: The scenario should be based on high-priority risks from your assessment. Include a timeline of events and “injects” — pieces of information or challenges introduced to simulate a developing crisis.

Scenario Example: Ransomware Attack

• 09:00 a.m.: Test begins. IT help desk receives reports that users cannot access the CRM and are seeing strange file extensions.
• 09:30 a.m.: An inject from the “CISO” confirms a ransomware infection, activating the BCP.
• 10:30 a.m.: A new inject reveals primary backups have also been compromised, forcing teams to use off-site backups.

Assembling Teams and Defining Roles

• A structured test team ensures smooth execution:
• Players/Participants: Actively respond to the mock disruption (e.g., IT staff, department managers).
• Controllers: Manage the test from behind the scenes, introducing injects and ensuring the exercise stays on track.
• Evaluators/Observers: Impartial individuals who assess performance against objectives without intervening.
• It's vital to emphasize that the goal is to test the plan, not the people. A no-blame environment where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities is crucial for an honest and effective test.

Risk Mitigation During Testing

Testing involves inherent risk, but careful preparation minimizes it:

• Safe Test Environment: Use a sandbox environment for technical recovery tasks. Never test on live systems unless it is a fully planned and isolated failover.
• Strategic Scheduling: Schedule tests to minimize operational impact and inform non-participating employees to prevent confusion.
• Clear Communication Protocols: All verbal and written communication during the exercise must start and end with “THIS IS AN EXERCISE” to avoid triggering a real-world panic.

Pre-Test Checklist

• Test Plan Approved: Scope, objectives and scenario signed off by leadership.
• Roles Assigned: Players, controllers and evaluators briefed on responsibilities.
• Logistics Confirmed: Test time, location and technical environments scheduled.
• Evaluation Criteria Ready: SMART objectives translated into evaluator checklists.
• Communication Protocols Set: The “THIS IS AN EXERCISE” rule is understood by all.
• Pre-Test Briefing Held: All participants understand the rules of engagement.

Next Steps: Executing the Test

With your test plan in place, it’s time to move from planning to performance. In the final article of this series, we’ll guide you through executing the test — managing it in real time, leading a focused debrief, and turning lessons learned into concrete improvements.

A well-run test doesn’t just validate your plan — it builds confidence, sharpens response, and strengthens organizational resilience.

Stay tuned for the next article on turning preparation into action.