Think about an estimate due this afternoon, the approved drawing a repair job depends on, or shipping records needed by dispatch. If those records disappeared, employees might have to stop, recreate work, or ask a customer to resend information.
Start the recovery conversation with the work that would be delayed. An owner, office manager, or operations manager can use this checklist to agree what needs checking, who can approve the test, and who will decide whether the recovered records are useful.
01Choose the records that matter first.
List the records needed to restart a job: estimates and customer instructions for a plant-service crew; approved drawings and quality records for a repair shop; dispatch or shipping records for a logistics team. Name who uses them and where the working copies live. Agree what comes first and how much recent work the business could afford to recreate.
02Check what the backup actually covers.
Review the source locations, most recent protected copy, retention, exclusions, and who can access the backup. Do not assume a folder is included because a different backup job succeeded. Use the provider’s current documentation to check the configured coverage.
03Include the things needed to use the files.
Ask an employee what they need to use the recovered record. A drawing may need the right CAD application and revision; dispatch records may need a vendor system and a working account. Record those dependencies and their owners so a recovered file does not leave the team unable to continue. The responsible customer or qualified professional still owns technical accuracy and approval.
04Agree a safe, isolated restore test.
Before anyone restores data, approve the scope, destination, access, and rollback. Use synthetic files or specifically approved data in an isolated location. Follow the actual provider’s restore instructions and keep live records protected from accidental overwrite. Have the record owner check that the recovered files are useful.
05Record the result and its limits.
Document what was recovered, the age of the recovered copy, observed elapsed time, missing dependencies, and what remains untested. One successful folder restore does not prove that every application or a whole business can recover within the same time. Give the next improvement an owner.
THE USEFUL QUESTION
Can an employee use the recovered records?
Have the person who uses the records confirm whether the agreed work can resume, then record the gaps. Hands-on restore testing needs defined scope and authorization as a project or an agreed recurring activity. The standard Technology & Security Assessment reviews evidence; it does not perform a restore.
CISA’s StopRansomware Guide recommends regularly testing backup availability and integrity. That guidance does not establish the recovery capability of your particular systems.
Backup and recovery planning →
Discuss what you need to recover first