Business Continuity Planning for glazing fabricators

In the next in our series of articles, Greg Du-feu, Managing Director of Dufeu IT, explains why Disaster Recovery (BR) and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) strategies are an essential part of business planning, not just to implement when things go wrong. 

Most glazing fabricators believe they’re protected because they “have backups.” But a backup alone won’t keep your business running if your entire system goes down.

Backups are one part of the puzzle. Business Continuity (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) plans are what ensure production can continue when disaster strikes. Without them, even the best backups are just data sitting in storage.

Backup, DR, and BCP – What’s the Difference?

Backup – A copy of your data.
Disaster Recovery (DR) – The process and technology for restoring that data and getting systems online.
Business Continuity (BCP) – The bigger plan that keeps your business operational during and after an incident.

Example: If ransomware hits your ERP server, your backup has the files. Your DR plan details how to restore them. Your BCP outlines how sales, manufacturing, and delivery will continue while IT works.

Why Fabricators Can’t Rely on Backups Alone

1. Downtime = Lost Revenue
   Every day your ERP or quoting system is down, orders stack up and installers go idle.
2. Production Dependencies
   Even if data is safe, can you access drawings, invoices, or delivery notes?
3. Hardware Failures
   A fire, flood, or failed server can destroy both production PCs and backups if they’re stored on-site.
4. Human Error
   We’ve seen businesses accidentally overwrite backups or forget to schedule them.

The Role of Disaster Recovery

DR is about speed. It focuses on how quickly you can restore operations. For fabricators, this means:

• Restoring ERP servers in the cloud or at an alternate site.
• Enabling remote access for office staff.
• Ensuring backups are immutable (cannot be altered or encrypted).

Your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) should be hours, not days.

The Role of Business Continuity

BCP keeps the rest of your business moving while IT restores systems. Ask:

• How will you issue delivery notes if the ERP is offline?
• Can finance manually raise invoices?
• How will you communicate with customers if email is down?

A good BCP maps out manual workarounds and secondary communication channels.

The True Cost of Downtime

A single day of lost production can easily cost £10,000 – £20,000 in lost output and penalties. Add in reputation loss, cancelled contracts, and overtime to catch up, and the total climbs fast.

Testing Matters

A plan you’ve never tested isn’t a plan. Schedule at least one full DR/BCP simulation per year. Identify bottlenecks, clarify responsibilities, and make sure everyone knows their role.

Final Word

Backups keep your data safe. DR and BCP keep your business alive.

Follow Dufeu IT on LinkedIn, connect with me personally, or visit dufeu-it.co.uk/contact to see how we’re helping fabricators build bulletproof recovery and continuity strategies.