SOC 2 A1.3: Recovery Plan Testing for System Availability
Recovery plan testing is your proof that your business can actually bounce back. SOC 2 A1.3 requires you to validate that your disaster recovery and business continuity procedures work when it matters most—demonstrating you can meet your availability commitments even during system failures.
What this means
A1.3 mandates that your organization regularly tests the procedures designed to restore system availability following disruptions. This isn't about having a plan on paper—it's about proving those procedures function in practice. Testing must align with your stated commitments to customers and your actual system requirements, ensuring recovery objectives are realistic and achievable.
How to comply
- 1.Document all recovery plan procedures that support system availability and meet your service level commitments
- 2.Establish a testing schedule (at minimum annual) that covers critical systems and recovery scenarios
- 3.Execute tests and record results, including duration to recover and systems restored
- 4.Compare test outcomes against your Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO)
- 5.Document any gaps between planned and actual recovery performance
- 6.Update procedures based on test findings and implement corrective actions
- 7.Maintain evidence of testing activities, results, and remediation efforts for auditor review
Evidence auditors look for
- Documented recovery plan testing schedule and procedures
- Test execution logs showing date, systems tested, and personnel involved
- Recovery time measurements compared to documented RTOs and RPOs
- Post-test reports documenting outcomes, failures, and lessons learned
- Corrective action tracking for identified gaps or failed recovery steps
- Backup restoration verification logs and data integrity confirmation
- Incident response drill results demonstrating failover and recovery execution
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
GRCWatch automates recovery plan testing workflows by tracking test schedules, capturing results directly into your SOC 2 evidence repository, and flagging when RTOs and RPOs aren't met—eliminating manual log collection and last-minute audit scrambles.
See how GRCWatch handles this control automatically
Start free trial