Automate Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) for SMB Clients Most SMBs don’t have the resources for a dedicated IT team, so they rely on MSPs to keep operations running when the unexpected happens. The question is whether your clients are prepared and whether their plans are reliable when it matters most. In this video, we’ll walk through a practical step-by-step approach to documenting and automating a business continuity plan for your SMB clients. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne’s IT video hub and our YouTube channel for more tech content like this. Why Automate Business Continuity Planning? First, why automate business continuity planning? A well-documented business continuity plan—or BCP—ensures that critical services can be restored within defined recovery time objectives. It supports regulatory and insurance requirements and helps protect both revenue and reputation. But documentation alone isn’t enough. Manual processes introduce risk: missed updates, inconsistent testing, and human error. Automation removes those gaps, ensuring your BCP is always current, validated, and ready for implementation. [Title Card: Prerequisites for a Business Continuity Plan] Before you get started, make sure you have these key components in place. A centralized documentation platform An RMM platform like NinjaOne A backup and disaster recovery solution PowerShell scripting enabled on managed endpoints Administrator access for Group Policy and registry changes Clearly defined RTO and RPO requirements An inventory of critical business assets With that said, let’s cover the steps to documenting and automating a BCP—starting with creating a template. How to Document and Automate a Business Continuity Plan First, BCP is a living document that outlines how an organization responds to disruptions. Yours should document the following: Internal and external contact lists Critical systems and dependencies Backup and recovery procedures Roles and responsibilities RTO and RPO objectives Incident communication protocols Alternate access methods, such as VPNs or cloud workspaces Store this document in a centralized platform with version control and change logging. Second, make sure your BCP—and the systems it depends on—are properly backed up. Using PowerShell and your RMM platform, automate backup verification across managed devices and ensure these checks run on a scheduled basis. You can also log verification results to the Windows Event Log to trigger alerts if recent backups are missing. Group Policy helps ensure security settings are consistently applied. Enable audit policies such as logon events, object access, and process tracking to improve visibility during incidents. You can also enforce shutdown and restart policies and display logon messages with BCP instructions. Fourth, registry keys provide a lightweight way to track the state of your BCP across endpoints. You can store values such as the following— The date of the last BCP test Whether backups were successfully verified Whether disaster recovery mode is enabled —which can be created and monitored using scripts or endpoint management tools. Next, testing is where most continuity plans fail or succeed. Using PowerShell, you can simulate service outages to validate your recovery procedures as well as log outcomes and send email summaries, ensuring consistency and repeatability across environments. Lastly, while automation handles most of the work, manual validation still plays an important role. Using Command Prompt, you can do the following: Verify service states Confirm backup availability Simulate outages Validate Group Policy application Confirm required Registry keys are present Documenting these results completes your continuity checklist and provides evidence of testing. An effective BCP goes beyond documentation; it should be tested, validated, and enforced consistently and reliably. Automation makes this possible, ensuring your clients stay operational when it matters most. For more information, check out our official blog post on automating BCPs for your SMB clients, linked in the description below.