Risk & Change
IT Disaster Recovery Plan
MyPMP
QMS Template
Objectives
Scope
Approach
| Milestone | Owner | Due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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About the IT Disaster Recovery Plan template
An IT Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) documents how your organisation restores IT systems, applications, and data after a disruptive event such as hardware failure, cyberattack, or site loss. It defines recovery objectives, roles, and step-by-step restoration procedures so downtime and data loss stay within agreed tolerances. Without one, recovery decisions get made ad hoc under pressure, extending outages and compounding damage.
It's part of My QMS, MyPMP's Quality Management System: fill it in online, personalize it with your name and logo, then export a clean, branded PDF. Your work auto-saves in your browser.
When to use a IT Disaster Recovery Plan
- βΈBuilding or refreshing DR capability alongside a broader business continuity programme
- βΈResponding to audit, ISO 27001, or SOC 2 requirements for documented recovery procedures
- βΈAfter a near-miss or actual outage exposed gaps in your restore process
- βΈMigrating to cloud or new infrastructure that changes RTO/RPO assumptions
What a good IT Disaster Recovery Plan includes
- βRecovery objectives per system: RTO (time to restore) and RPO (acceptable data loss)
- βPrioritised inventory of critical systems, applications, and their dependencies
- βBackup and replication details: locations, frequency, retention, and restore steps
- βRoles and contacts: recovery team, escalation paths, vendors, and decision authority
- βInvocation criteria and step-by-step recovery runbooks per scenario
- βTesting schedule, results log, and plan review/maintenance cadence
What's inside this template
The interactive form above gives you:
ObjectivesScopeApproachA table of Milestone, Owner, Due, StatusRisks & dependencies
Tips & common mistakes
- π‘Set RTO/RPO from business impact, not IT guessworkβthen verify backups can actually meet them
- π‘Test restores regularly; an untested backup is an assumption, not a recovery capability
- π‘Keep contact lists and system dependencies current, and store a copy offline in case primary systems are down
How it works
- 1. Fill it in β type directly into the fields, tables and sections above.
- 2. Brand it β add your organization name and logo with the Branding button.
- 3. Export β print to PDF, or become a member to white-label and sync across devices.
FAQ
What's the difference between a disaster recovery plan and a business continuity plan?οΌ
A DRP focuses specifically on restoring IT systems, data, and infrastructure after an incident, while a business continuity plan covers keeping the whole organisation operating, including people, facilities, and processes. The DRP is typically one component of the wider BCP.
How do I set RTO and RPO values?οΌ
Derive them from a business impact analysis: RTO is the maximum acceptable downtime before losses become critical, and RPO is the maximum data loss you can tolerate, measured in time. Each system should have its own values based on how critical it is to operations.
How often should a disaster recovery plan be tested and updated?οΌ
Test at least annually, and update whenever infrastructure, applications, staff, or vendors change. Many organisations run tabletop exercises quarterly and full recovery tests once or twice a year to confirm procedures and timings still hold.
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