Evaluation is the practice of reviewing how well recovery actually worked and how ready the organization is for the next disruption. It measures recovery against its objectives, examines what helped and what hindered, and turns that understanding into improvements to plans, arrangements, and capability.

Within the Recovery phase, evaluation is the reflective counterpart to action. Once systems are restored and operations stabilized, the organization needs to know whether recovery met its targets and where it fell short. Evaluation provides that judgment, grounded in evidence rather than relief that the event is over, and it keeps recovery capability from quietly decaying between incidents.

In practice, evaluation compares outcomes against recovery objectives such as achieved recovery times and data loss, and reviews the smoothness of restoration, handover, and continuity. It draws on real events and on scheduled readiness tests and exercises that rehearse recovery without waiting for a disaster. Metrics, observations, and participant feedback reveal gaps in backups, dependencies, documentation, or roles. Findings feed improvement, updating plans and strengthening weak points. Treated as a regular discipline, evaluation ensures recovery capability is tested and refined, not assumed.

References#

• NIST SP 800-184, Guide for Cybersecurity Event Recovery
• ISO 22301, Business Continuity Management Systems