5 Common Pitfalls in IT Disaster Recovery (and How to Avoid Them)

Even the strongest IT/DR plans can fail if they aren’t proactive about avoiding these common mistakes.

When systems go down, business grinds to a halt. Downtime leads to $9,000 in losses per minute on average, damaged reputation, and operational disruption. To that end, IT disaster recovery is more than a technical safeguard; it’s your organization’s lifeline. Whether facing a cyberattack, system failure, or infrastructure outage, a strong IT/DR strategy stands between disruption and business as usual.

A recent major airport shutdown is a stark reminder of what’s at stake. The airport closed for nearly an entire day due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation, grounding hundreds of flights, stranding passengers, and triggering widespread disruptions. While the full cost of that outage is still being tallied, the broader lesson is clear: downtime is expensive, both financially and reputationally.

However, even organizations investing in IT/DR may find their plans crumble under pressure. Why? Some of the most damaging failures stem not from major oversights but from common, avoidable pitfalls – flaws that hide in assumptions, outdated processes, or untested plans. Let’s explore five of the most frequent mistakes organizations can make regarding disaster recovery and, more importantly, how to avoid them, to ensure you’re consistently crafting a recovery strategy that can deliver when it matters most.

Pitfall #1: Treating IT Disaster Recovery as a One-Time Project

One of the most common missteps in IT disaster recovery is viewing it as a “check-the-box” exercise — something to complete once and file away. But disaster recovery isn’t static. As infrastructure evolves, business processes shift and new threats emerge, a plan that was solid two years ago may now be dangerously outdated. An untested, unrefreshed IT/DR plan can give a false sense of security, only to fail when it’s needed most.

Instead, treat IT/DR as a living process. Regularly review and update it with changes to your technology stack, business priorities, and risk landscape. Testing should be routine, not reactive, ensuring your plan stays aligned with your organization’s current operations.

Pitfall #2: Incomplete or Inaccurate Asset Inventory

You can’t recover what you don’t know exists. This simple truth often leads to critical oversights during a disruption. Many organizations rely on outdated or incomplete asset inventories, which results in important systems, applications, or data being excluded from recovery plans. The growing presence of shadow IT, where tools and systems are deployed outside central IT’s oversight, adds complexity and creates hidden vulnerabilities.

By integrating your business continuity planning and your IT Disaster Recovery planning efforts, you can leverage the process of continuity planning to identify and regularly update a list of critical technologies and tools that your departments need to continue their business processes.

Organizations must implement automated asset discovery tools that continuously track and update their inventories to address this. Each asset should also be mapped to its corresponding business function, ensuring recovery priorities reflect the actual operational impact.

Pitfall #3: Overreliance on Backups Without Full Recovery Planning

​Overreliance on backups without comprehensive recovery planning can lead to significant financial and operational setbacks. The 2024 IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report revealed that the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million—a 10% increase from the previous year and the highest total ever recorded. This underscores the critical need for organizations to move beyond routine backups and implement thorough recovery strategies.

Without addressing elements like application dependencies, configuration settings, and network connectivity, businesses risk prolonged downtime and increased breach costs. Regular testing of complete recovery procedures ensures that infrastructure, applications, and supporting environments can be restored quickly and reliably, mitigating the substantial expenses associated with data breaches.​

Pitfall #4: Lack of Regular Testing and IT/DR Exercises

A disaster recovery plan that lives only on paper is likely to fail. Many organizations either skip testing altogether or run through it under ideal, low-pressure conditions (far from the chaos of a real crisis). When a true disaster hits, the stress, urgency, and complexity can quickly overwhelm teams that haven’t practiced their roles.

That’s why regular, scenario-based testing is essential. Tabletop exercises, in particular, are a powerful way to walk through response steps, validate assumptions, and train cross-functional teams in a low-risk setting. Everyone needs to know what to do, who to contact, and how to act because there’s no time to hesitate when the plan is activated. Ongoing testing helps expose gaps, clarify responsibilities, and ultimately builds the confidence needed to execute under pressure.

Pitfall #5: Poor Communication and Undefined Roles

Even the most robust IT disaster recovery plan can fail if roles are unclear and communication breaks down. Without well-defined responsibilities and structured escalation paths, response efforts become disorganized and slow — often when speed matters most. During a recent global outage, one major airline experienced widespread disruption after its crew scheduling system failed, grounding thousands of flights. While multiple organizations were impacted, this airline’s recovery appeared slower, suggesting potential gaps in IT disaster recovery planning and outdated infrastructure.

This incident underscores a critical lesson: successful disaster recovery depends not only on technology but on people knowing their roles, communicating clearly, and acting decisively.

Building Smarter IT Disaster Recovery for the Road Ahead

IT disaster recovery is more than a technical safeguard; it is a strategic capability. As we have seen, even well-designed plans can fall short if they are outdated, incomplete, or never tested. By addressing the five most common pitfalls — treating recovery as a one-time project, neglecting asset inventories, relying solely on backups, skipping regular testing, and failing to define roles and communication — organizations can strengthen their ability to respond quickly and effectively.

Looking forward, the organizations that lead will be those that treat IT disaster recovery as a continuous process. Regular updates, scenario-based testing, and alignment with evolving business and risk landscapes will set them apart. Do not wait for the next crisis to reveal weaknesses. Invest in a resilient, adaptable IT disaster recovery strategy now so your organization is ready for whatever comes next.