Testing your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is key to securing leadership support. It reinforces the importance of being prepared for unexpected incidents and gives executives firsthand insight into the value of the plan. These exercises also serve as essential training, preparing leadership to respond confidently and effectively when real incidents occur.
Tabletop exercises simulate critical incidents in a controlled setting. They train participants in the use of the organization’s response plan and sharpen awareness of individual roles and responsibilities. The sessions emphasize communication, decision-making, and problem-solving under pressure. They also reveal potential areas for improvement in the current plan.
Each session lasts approximately 1.5 to 2 hours and is most effective when involving key personnel who hold roles in the incident response plan. These typically include:
CEO
Chief Information Officer
Legal Counsel or Data Protection Officer
Head of Human Resources
Chief Financial Officer
Head of Communications
Department Managers
The structure of the exercise involves a live meeting where participants work through a realistic scenario that escalates in severity. As new information is introduced during the session, participants must respond and adapt collaboratively—just as they would during a real incident.
Syndis offers a variety of scenario templates that can be mixed and matched depending on the organization’s risk profile and priorities. The most commonly used core scenarios include:
Data Breach
Ransomware Attack
Misuse of IT Systems
Unavailability of IT Systems or Internet Access
All responses during the exercise are recorded and evaluated against your current Business Continuity Plan as well as best practices known to Syndis. After the session, Syndis provides a concise memo summarizing:
What worked well
What didn’t go as expected
Suggestions for improvement
Recommended changes to the existing plan
An untested plan may provide a false sense of security. Regular testing is essential to ensuring its effectiveness. Since Business Continuity Plans are often broad in scope, it’s rarely feasible to test every aspect at once—but regular, focused testing remains a must.
Organizations legally required to maintain a Business Continuity Plan should especially prioritize testing. This includes entities subject to:
NIS1
NIS2
DORA