It’s all very well having a business continuity plan that looks good on paper, but it can’t be relied upon until we’ve proved that it will work and that our assumptions are valid. So, short of staging our own crisis or disaster, that means exercising and testing. And we’re unlikely to get the most from our exercises and tests unless we plan and prepare for them properly.

A properly planned and managed exercise or test will include most, if not all, of the following :

• Management and co-ordination
• Objectives and success criteria
• Risk assessment
• A test plan and schedule
• Briefing of participants
• Event logs & post-exercise critique forms
• Independent observers
• Debriefing of participants
• Post-test reporting and follow-up of actions

The proof of the pudding may be in the eating