Essential Things You Need to Include in Your Business Continuity Plan Checklist [2026]

A sudden disruption—whether caused by cyberattacks, system failures, natural disasters, or human error—can bring your organisation to a standstill. This is why having a well-structured Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is no longer optional. A strong plan ensures your business can continue operating, protect critical data, and recover quickly when incidents occur.

If you’re building or updating your strategy, here are the key elements your Business Continuity Plan checklist must include.

Identify Critical Business Functions

Every effective BCP starts with a clear understanding of the processes that keep your organisation running. Identify your core operational, financial, and customer-facing functions, then determine the impact of downtime for each one.

Include in your checklist:

• Critical processes and applications

• Maximum acceptable downtime

• Priority levels for restoration

This ensures your recovery efforts focus on what matters most.

Define RTO and RPO (Recovery Time & Recovery Point Objectives)

Your RTO determines how quickly operations must be restored, while your RPO defines how much data loss is acceptable. These metrics shape your backup strategy, disaster recovery plan, and technology investments.

Clearly defining RTO and RPO helps align your continuity plan with realistic recovery expectations.

Conduct a Comprehensive Risk Assessment

A strong business continuity plan depends on understanding your risks. Analyse internal and external threats, including:

• Ransomware and cybersecurity attacks

• Hardware or software failures

• Supply chain disruptions

• Power outages

• Natural disasters

• Human error

Mapping these risks helps you build proactive mitigation strategies.

Document Roles and Responsibilities

During a crisis, clarity is everything. Your BCP should outline the responsibilities of each team member involved in incident response and recovery.

Include:

• Incident response leaders

• Technical recovery teams

• Communication points of contact

• Decision-makers and escalation paths

This eliminates confusion and speeds up recovery time.

Develop a Clear Communication Plan

Communication failures can escalate small incidents into major problems. Your business continuity communication plan should include:

• Internal notification procedures

• Customer and partner updates

• Vendor communication protocols

• Pre-approved message templates

• Escalation procedures

A structured communication strategy helps maintain trust and minimise panic.

Implement Strong Data Backup and Recovery Procedures

Data protection sits at the heart of any Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) strategy.

Your checklist should cover:

• Backup frequency and retention

• Cloud and on-prem backup locations

• Immutable or air-gapped storage options

• Access controls

• Full data restoration workflows

Modern solutions—like immutable backups and independent cloud storage—significantly improve ransomware resilience.

Plan for Remote Work and Alternate Work Sites

If your primary workspace becomes unavailable, your team must still be able to operate securely.

Include:

• Remote access tools

• VPN and multi-factor authentication

• Cloud-based productivity systems

• Secondary office locations

This ensures operational continuity regardless of location.

Review Vendor and Supplier Dependencies

Your business is only as resilient as its vendors.

A strong BCP should outline:

• Critical vendors and their SLAs

• Backup or alternative suppliers

• Contact lists and escalation paths

• Third-party risk assessments

This protects you from supply chain-related downtime.

Test, Train, and Review Regularly

A Business Continuity Plan is only effective if it’s tested and kept current.

Add the following to your continuity checklist:

• Annual or quarterly BCP testing

• Scenario-based exercises

• Full or partial failover tests

• Staff training and onboarding refreshers

Regular testing ensures everyone knows their role and that your plan works under pressure.

Schedule Continuous Plan Updates

Your infrastructure, staff, and vendors evolve—your BCP should too. Set a timetable for reviewing and updating:

• Contact lists

• System architecture

• Backup and recovery tools

• Risk assessments

• Vendor SLAs

• New business processes

Keeping documentation current ensures your plan reflects real-world operations.

Final Thoughts: Build a Resilient Business Continuity Plan

A strong Business Continuity Plan protects your data, operations, customers, and reputation. With a solid checklist and the support of trusted technology partners— StoneFly, QSAN, Wasabi, NAKIVO, Keepit, and others available through Cloud Ready Solutions—you can build a resilient and future-ready continuity strategy.