Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery for Manufacturing Companies
Protect production uptime with a tested backup and recovery plan built for your ERP, production data, and operational systems—not a generic IT checklist.
22 days
Average manufacturing downtime after a ransomware attack
$8,000+
Estimated cost per hour of ERP or production system downtime
60%
Of SMBs that never reopen after a major data loss event
<4 hrs
RTO achievable with a properly architected cloud DR environment
Most manufacturers have backups. Few manufacturers have tested, documented recovery plans. There is a significant difference between “we run nightly backups” and “we can restore our ERP and resume production within four hours of a ransomware attack.”
NBIT designs, implements, and tests business continuity and disaster recovery plans for manufacturing companies. We define recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) based on your actual production requirements—then build and test the infrastructure that meets them.
What We Deliver
End-to-end BCDR designed around your production environment.
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Backup Architecture & Management
We design and manage 3-2-1 backup strategies covering your servers, ERP databases, and endpoints—with automated verification so you know every backup is actually recoverable, not just running.
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DR Plan Documentation
A written, step-by-step recovery playbook your team can execute under pressure—covering who does what, in what order, with what credentials. Updated whenever your environment changes.
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RTO / RPO Analysis
We translate production requirements into technology requirements. How long can your plant run without ERP? Without email? Without network access to your PLC? Those answers determine your recovery architecture—not the other way around.
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Cloud Disaster Recovery
Azure Site Recovery and cloud-based failover for your critical systems—so that a hardware failure, fire, or ransomware attack doesn’t mean days of downtime waiting for replacement servers to arrive.
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Ransomware Recovery Planning
Immutable backup storage, offline recovery copies, and a ransomware-specific response playbook. We design your environment so that paying a ransom is never your only option.
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Annual DR Testing
An untested DR plan is not a DR plan. We run tabletop exercises and live recovery drills annually—identifying gaps before an actual incident does, and producing documentation your cyber insurance carrier will accept.
How Long Could Your Plant Survive an Outage?
Production downtime in manufacturing is not measured in inconvenience—it’s measured in dollars per hour. A food manufacturer running three shifts at $40,000/hour throughput cannot afford a 22-day ransomware recovery. Neither can a fabrication shop with contractual delivery windows.
Most mid-market manufacturers we assess have one or more of these gaps:
- Backups running but never tested for restore completeness
- No documented recovery procedure—institutional knowledge only
- Single backup copy on-site (no offsite or cloud copy)
- RTO/RPO never formally defined or tied to production requirements
- ERP vendor contact info and license keys not documented in DR plan
- Cyber insurance requiring DR documentation that doesn’t exist
We close these gaps systematically. Our BCDR engagements produce a tested backup environment, written recovery procedures, and the documentation your insurance carrier and auditors expect to see.
Cyber Insurance Requirement
Most cyber insurance carriers now require documented backup and recovery procedures, tested annually, with immutable backup copies. Without this documentation, claims can be denied—or coverage offered only at significantly higher premiums.
The 3-2-1 Backup Rule
3 copies of your data — 2 different storage media — 1 copy offsite or in the cloud. This is the minimum architecture that gives you ransomware-resistant recovery options.
NBIT BCDR Engagement Includes
- Current-state backup assessment
- RTO/RPO definition workshop
- Backup infrastructure design & implementation
- Written DR plan (production-ready)
- Annual test & update cycle
Common Questions About Business Continuity for Manufacturers
What is the difference between backup and disaster recovery?
Backup is the process of copying data. Disaster recovery is the plan and infrastructure that gets your business operational again after a failure. You can have excellent backups and still experience days of downtime if there is no tested process for restoring those backups to operational systems in the right sequence. BCDR treats both as part of the same program—not separate IT projects.
How do we protect our ERP data specifically?
ERP databases require application-consistent backups—not just file-level copies. We work with your ERP vendor’s backup recommendations to capture transaction logs and database state at the right intervals. We also document the restore sequence, license key locations, and vendor support contacts so that recovery can begin immediately, even if your primary IT contact is unavailable.
What if we get hit by ransomware and our backups are also encrypted?
This is why immutable backup storage matters. Immutable backups cannot be modified or deleted by ransomware—even if the attacker has administrative credentials on your network. We implement immutable cloud storage (Azure Blob with Object Immutability or equivalent) as part of every BCDR engagement. Air-gapped offline copies add an additional layer of protection for environments with higher risk profiles.
Does our cyber insurance require a disaster recovery plan?
Almost certainly. Cyber insurance underwriters have significantly tightened requirements over the past three years. Most carriers now require documented backup procedures, tested recovery, immutable backup copies, and MFA—as conditions of coverage rather than recommendations. We provide the documentation your carrier will request and can participate in underwriting calls if needed.
How often should we test our disaster recovery plan?
Annually at minimum—more frequently if you have significant system changes (new ERP version, new server hardware, new locations). DR plans decay quickly. A plan written 18 months ago may reference servers, credentials, or contacts that no longer exist. We include annual testing in our managed BCDR program and update the documentation after every test and every major infrastructure change.
Find Out If Your Backups Would Actually Survive a Ransomware Attack
We’ll assess your current backup environment and give you a plain-language answer—before an incident forces the question.