Recovery plans are not tested

Tuesday 22nd April 2008, 2:31PM BST.

NEARLY 80% of British companies’ disaster recovery plans are ineffective, according to a report from the Chartered Management Institute.

An information security breaches survey found that a third of companies still did not have a business continuity plan and half of those that did failed to test it. Dick Bush (pictured), managing director of local disaster recovery specialist MDS International, said the figures painted a very bleak picture.

‘The disturbing thing was that the vast majority of plans are lacking in some way when they are tested. A third have no plan whatsoever and a lot of those that do don’t even test it. When you link these factors together it’s extremely disturbing. The level of preparedness is nowhere near enough. That’s not just my opinion, but the evidence of independent reports.’