IT & InfrastructureIntermediate 3 to 4 hours

Disaster Recovery Tabletop Exercise

Design a tabletop exercise that surfaces the gaps in a SA SME's disaster recovery plan.

The Scenario

A SA logistics company has a written DR plan but has never rehearsed it. The IT manager wants you to design and document a tabletop exercise: a simulated disaster scenario, the team that runs it, and the format for capturing findings.

The Brief

Design a complete tabletop exercise. Pick a disaster scenario, write the injects, document the participant roles, and design the after-action review template.

Deliverables

  • A scenario brief describing the simulated disaster (e.g., "Saturday 02:00 the primary server room is flooded"), the timeline, and the assumed business impact
  • A series of at least 6 injects (events that get introduced during the exercise), each with timing, the team it targets, and the response expected
  • Participant role cards for at least 5 roles (IT lead, Comms lead, Exec sponsor, Operations, External vendor) with each role's objectives and constraints
  • An after-action review template covering: what worked, what failed, gaps in the plan, action items with owners and dates

Submission Guidance

A tabletop is not a fire drill. The point is not to "win" but to find the gaps in the plan. Inject real frustrations: people on leave, vendors not answering, a misplaced offsite tape, a missed comms channel. The harder the exercise, the more it teaches.

Submit Your Work

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