Free template
Business continuity plan template, ready to fill in
A plain English business continuity plan template for Australian businesses of 10 to 500 staff, in Word. Contacts, recovery targets, first actions for the scenarios most likely to hit you, the recovery order and a testing schedule, with worked examples to replace.
- 11Sections, from contacts to testing
- 5Scenarios with first hour and first day actions
- RTORecovery targets set for every critical function
- WordEdit it, brand it and share it with your team
01What is inside
Everything a continuity plan needs to cover
Built around what insurers, clients and auditors ask to see, without the jargon. Grey example text shows you what good looks like.
Plan details and team
Who owns the plan, who decides when it is active, the response team, their deputies and a call tree.
Critical business functions
Each function with what it depends on, how long you can be without it and the recovery targets, with worked examples.
Key systems and data
Where each system runs, who supports it, how it is backed up and when a restore was last tested.
Scenarios and first actions
The first hour and first day for ransomware, a closed office, an internet outage, a supplier outage and the loss of a key person.
Recovery order and working elsewhere
The order systems come back in, the alternate location and how phones and remote access keep working.
Communication, insurance and testing
Who tells staff, clients, suppliers, the insurer and regulators, plus a testing schedule and a test log.
02How to use it
From blank template to a plan you have tested
Most businesses have a first version within a fortnight, working through it an hour at a time.
- Step 1
Agree what matters
Sit down with the people who run each part of the business and list the functions you cannot do without.
- Step 2
Set the targets
Agree how long each function can be down and how much data you can lose. These drive everything else.
- Step 3
Check the IT side
Ask your IT provider whether your backups and systems can meet those targets, and fill in the systems table.
- Step 4
Test it
Walk through a scenario with the team. Fix what breaks, then put the review dates in the diary.
03Download
Get the business continuity plan template
Fill in the form and the download appears straight away. It is a Word document, so you can edit it, add your logo and share it with the team.
- 01Response team, deputies and a call tree
- 02Critical functions with recovery targets and worked examples
- 03First actions for five common scenarios
- 04Recovery order, communication plan and testing schedule
Send me the template
Takes a minute. The download appears as soon as you send the form.
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Email sales@austintechnology.com.au and we will send the template, or call 1300 787 429.
Your template is ready
Thanks. Download it now and start with section 4, the critical functions.
Download the template04Where plans fail
Most plans fail on something small
The plans we see go wrong rarely lack a section. They fail because a phone number is out of date, the only person with the admin password is on leave, or the backups turn out to take three days to restore when the business assumed three hours.
That is why the template puts recovery targets next to the systems that must meet them, and ends with a testing schedule. If you would like the IT side built and tested for you, see business continuity and disaster recovery.
Check these first
- Every contact number in the plan
- Admin access held by more than one person
- A restore tested in the last three months
- Backups protected from deletion and ransomware
- A second internet link at the main office
- Your cyber insurer's claims line and first steps
05Questions
Business continuity questions
What owners and office managers ask before they start. Anything else, call 1300 787 429.
01What is a business continuity plan?
A written plan for keeping the business running, or getting it running again, when something goes wrong: a cyber attack, a closed office, an internet outage or the loss of a key supplier or person. It sets out who decides, what matters most, how quickly each function must be back and how you will tell staff, clients and suppliers.
02What is the difference between a business continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan?
Disaster recovery is the IT part: restoring systems and data from backup. Business continuity is the whole business: people, premises, suppliers, communication and the manual workarounds that keep you trading while IT is restored. The template covers both, and our business continuity and disaster recovery service builds and tests the IT side.
03Does a small business need a business continuity plan?
Most do, and cyber insurers, larger clients and tenders increasingly ask to see one. A plan for a business of 20 staff can be ten pages. What matters is that the contacts are current, the recovery targets are agreed and someone has tested it.
04How long does it take to fill in?
A first version usually takes a few hours spread over a week or two: an hour with the people who run each part of the business to agree what matters most, an hour with your IT provider on systems and backups, and time to fill in contacts and suppliers.
05How often should we test the plan?
Walk through a scenario with the response team once a year, test a restore from backup every quarter and check the contact details every six months. Review the whole plan after any incident, office move or change of IT provider.
06Is the template free?
Yes. Fill in the short form and the download appears straight away. It is a Word document you can edit and brand. Our team may get in touch to see if you have questions, and you are under no obligation.
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06Business continuity
Want the IT side
built and tested for you?
We agree recovery targets with you, set up backups that meet them and test a restore on a schedule, so the plan matches what would really happen.