Recovery Testing

Recovery Testing is the set of planned tests used to verify whether backed-up data, systems and applications can actually be restored within the intended procedures. A backup is thus not considered reliable merely because of a successful backup job; only a restore test shows whether the data is actually readable, complete and practically usable.

Depending on the criticality of the systems, tests range from the restoration of individual objects to complete application or emergency scenarios. Duration, errors, dependencies and necessary manual steps should be documented for each test. In security-critical scenarios, it can additionally be checked whether the recovery point is free of detected manipulation or malware.

Regular recovery testing strengthens resilient Business Continuity Management. It provides reliable insights into whether documented recovery objectives can be achieved under realistic conditions and where technical or organizational gaps still exist.