Prior to joining Spyrosoft, I was Chief Information Officer for a Group of companies that employed approximately 2000 users across 10 UK locations. In early March, when the Covid-19 pandemic was sweeping Europe, the Group’s CEO asked me about the possibility of moving all users from being office-based to home-based.

Like all good CIO’s/CTO’s/IT Director’s, I said, of course, we could deliver it and immediately began work reviewing the Group DR/BCP plans, speaking to our Head of Infrastructure, engaging the Divisional Business Heads etc.

Our approach to the remote working solution very quickly became clear, and using well-known technology services, including remote desktop (RDS which is similar to Citrix ), web services and Office 365, we formulated a plan to deliver services to a remote Business community. 

Main challenges when creating this remote working solution

One area of challenge was the remaining on-premise servers/services we were still operating (we were mid-migration to hosted/cloud services) – though RDS allows excellent remote access to the services hosted on these servers, we were concerned about latency & concurrency, but we were also worried about infrastructure engineers both entering offices that were formally closed but also having their own concerns about travelling during lockdown.  Though we were very successful in the delivery of core services to 2000 remote users (something that I am very proud to have been a part of), there are a number of lessons that I have taken away and would recommend to anyone.

Four advises to initiate Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity Plans

1. It is very important to have a well-structured and documented Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity plan (DR/BCP), but this plan, and the delivery of this plan, must be flexible.  

2. Wherever possible, begin your migration away from on-premise servers to either hosted services or, better still, cloud services. Cloud services in mid-2020 are a world away from what they were even 2 years ago and are more secure, more flexible and more performant.

3. If possible, review your legacy applications. In general, applications that are running on more recent code bases and solutions will perform better in a cloud and web-environment. It is also easier to support applications where technical debt has been removed, and support for more common code and applications is more readily available 

4. Communication is king – the link between IT/Technology and the Business must be open, positive and 2-way. If this communication channel is open and engaging, everyone will benefit.  

Wrapping up

I look back on the piece of work we did where 2000 users were moved from office-based to home-based in ~72 hours with great pride in what the team achieved and how technology services carried on for the benefit of Clients, Customers and internal Users. I also hope we never have to deal with a pandemic again, but I am also realistic in knowing that denials of entry and data centre outages will occur, so we all must be ready to allow Technology to support Business in whatever form it needs. 

If you would like some help or advice in understanding or reviewing your DR/BCP challenges, your migration to Cloud services or your removal/upgrade of legacy applications, please get in touch on LinkedIn.

A disaster recovery plan is a structured strategy that helps you restore critical systems, data, and services after unexpected disruptions. These disruptions may include cyberattacks, infrastructure failures, natural disasters, or human error.

The goal of a disaster recovery plan is simple: minimise downtime and protect business continuity. When clearly defined and regularly tested, it allows your organisation to recover quickly and maintain trust with clients and partners.

Digital services must remain available even when unexpected events occur. Without a disaster recovery plan, outages can lead to data loss, operational paralysis, and significant financial impact.

A well-prepared recovery strategy gives you clarity on responsibilities, recovery priorities, and technical procedures. This preparation reduces chaos during incidents and ensures that critical services return online as quickly as possible.

An effective disaster recovery plan defines how your organisation responds to service interruptions and how systems are restored. It typically covers recovery priorities, infrastructure dependencies, data backup strategies, and communication procedures.

Equally important are clearly defined recovery objectives. Recovery Time Objective (RTO) determines how quickly systems must be restored, while Recovery Point Objective (RPO) specifies the acceptable amount of data loss.

Many organisations treat a disaster recovery plan as a static document created only for compliance. In reality, systems evolve, infrastructure changes, and new risks appear over time.

Another common issue is insufficient testing. If recovery procedures are not validated through regular exercises, teams may discover gaps only during a real crisis. Continuous updates and simulation exercises help ensure the plan remains practical and reliable.

Managed services providers can help you design, implement, and maintain a disaster recovery plan aligned with your infrastructure and business priorities. They bring operational experience, automation tools, and monitoring capabilities that strengthen resilience.

According to Spyrosoft, combining managed services with a well-defined disaster recovery plan allows organisations to maintain continuity while reducing operational complexity. External expertise helps identify weaknesses that internal teams may overlook.

A disaster recovery plan should be reviewed regularly and updated whenever major infrastructure, application, or organisational changes occur. Testing should also take place periodically through simulations, failover exercises, or recovery drills.

These tests reveal hidden dependencies and operational gaps. When you treat disaster recovery planning as an ongoing process rather than a one-off task, your organisation becomes better prepared for real-world disruptions.

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Duncan Johnson photo

Duncan Johnson

Chief Operating Officer at Spyrosoft Ltd.

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