People, place and plans are the three vital elements for recovery in the event of a disaster or major incident. So you’ve written your plans and made provision for your recovery site, whatever form that may take. But what if key staff are not available? Do your plans depend on specific individuals?

Don’t assume that people will automatically be available or willing to rush to your assistance in the event of a problem – experience has shown that this is not necessarily the case, for a variety of reasons. Better to remove those dependencies now, for instance by cross training, better documentation or enlisting the help of third parties, than leave yourself wanting when the chips are down.