Almost every organization acknowledges the need to devise manual workarounds for its key technology systems but few actually do it. In today’s world, building workarounds for your core business processes is a resilience essential, and the right approach can make it relatively straightforward.

Related: The Retro Revolution: Why Manual Workarounds Are a BC Must

Understanding Manual Workarounds

In business continuity, a manual workaround is an alternate way of performing a business process that allows you to keep your operations going if the normal way of working becomes unavailable due to an outage.

Anyone hoping to get anywhere in dealing with workarounds needs to adopt the mindset of a realist. Workarounds are almost always imperfect and incomplete. They are not meant to function indefinitely. They are meant to be a down-and-dirty way of helping you limp along for a limited period of time—say 24 hours or a couple of days—until you can restore your regular processes.

They are worthwhile because the difference between limping along and being brought to a dead halt can be the difference between a manageable disruption and a crippling impact on the organization’s finances, reputation, and regulatory standing.

In modern organizations, manual workarounds are almost always about technology. They are about how to perform your core business operations when the apps and systems you normally use to carry them out are down.

The foundation of most manual workarounds is a set of critical data and information, regularly saved to a secure environment isolated from your primary systems. This data should consist of the information you need to begin performing the process manually.

Manual Workarounds Are the Neglected Necessity

If there is one thing almost every organization agrees on it is that they should devise workarounds for their most critical business processes and associated systems and applications. One thing almost all of them have in common is that they don’t do this.

We work with organizations of all kinds and shapes. Few are willing to take the time to say, “These are my two most critical systems. I have to figure out, can I develop workarounds that would keep my operations going for x period of time, until my systems are up and running, and then document and test them.”

As much as workarounds are talked about, the reality in the corporate world today is that it’s not happening. There’s lip service but little action.

Unfortunately, this is true even of many organizations that can be considered critical or near critical for the society at large, such as health-care organizations, makers of medical supplies, or grocery-store distribution centers.

During engagements, we often challenge our clients to think up ways they might perform a critical operation manually. Often, their response is to throw up their hands and say, “There’s nothing we can do. The data volume is too great.”

Like Playing Russian Roulette

I alluded previously to the ways not having workarounds can hurt you. Let’s look at this topic head on.

The contemporary business environment combines unprecedented dependence on technology systems with an enduring risk of internal errors, a spiraling danger of cyberattacks, and the rising potential for AI-assisted system invasions. For most organizations, whether they will experience a technology-related outage is a matter of when not if.

Organizations with documented, exercised alternate methods of carrying on their core operations are well-positioned to get through such outages with minimal pain. The process might be messy, ugly, and stressful, but the results will likely be something they can live with and quickly bounce back from.

Living without workarounds is like playing Russian roulette. Companies that lack them run the risk of suffering severe and sustained outages, along with all the financial, reputational, and operational impacts that typically come with them. These organizations’ clients, customers, and suppliers will look to them for service or product, as usual. They will be met with silence, apologies, or excuses—and might begin seeking another company that can more reliably meet their needs.

How to Build Practical Manual Workarounds

As suggested above, many organizations view the development of viable manual workarounds as an impossible task. In fact, the process is merely challenging. And a well-informed, incremental approach can make it surprisingly manageable.

Here are some tips to help you create manual workarounds for your organization’s most critical technology processes.

• Start with your most critical processes

Don’t try to boil the ocean. Identify the core systems or processes that, if they went down, would bring your organization to a halt. This could be a distribution system, a patient-care function, or a core accounting process.

• Ask “What do we need to keep going?”

Look at the process and ask, “If we had to do this manually, what information would we need to start?” Focus on the point in the workflow where having the right data would allow you to continue, even in a limited way.

• Capture and secure that data

Work with IT to regularly extract (“spool off”) the critical data you’ve identified and store it in a secure location outside your primary systems. The goal is to have a snapshot of “what was happening” at the time of the disruption—something you can access even if your systems are down.

• Keep it simple

You’re not recreating your system. You’re building a basic, even “ugly,” way to keep things moving—often using tools like spreadsheets or simple databases. It won’t be business as usual, and it doesn’t need to be.

• Plan for a limited time horizon

Most manual workarounds are designed to sustain operations for 24 to 72 hours, maybe a few days. That window can make the difference between a manageable disruption and a complete shutdown.

• Work closely with IT

You need to understand where your data lives and how it flows through your systems. IT can help you identify extraction points, automate data captures, and ensure the stored data is accessible even during a system outage.

• Test your approach

The best organizations don’t just design workarounds—they test them. Some run manual processes in parallel with live systems for a few hours to see what works, how accurate the results are, and where the gaps are.

• Be realistic about the outcome

When systems go down, the goal isn’t perfection—it’s continuity. The process may be messy, slow, and stressful, but having a workable fallback is far better than having none at all.

The key is not perfection but having a workable fallback that allows your organization to get back up even when your systems are down.

Closing the Gap Between Wishes and Reality

Most companies acknowledge the importance of having workarounds they could turn to if the technology they usually rely on to perform their most critical business processes suffered an outage. Unfortunately, few act on this belief, leaving the rest exposed to prolonged outages and the severe impacts they commonly impose.

By focusing on a small number of core processes, capturing the right data, and building simple, workable alternatives, organizations can maintain operations long enough to bridge the gap until systems are restored. The process may be imperfect, but it can significantly reduce the operational, financial, and reputational impact of an outage.

MHA consultants have extensive experience helping organizations design, develop, and test practical manual workarounds for critical processes. Contact MHA if you would like guidance in building capabilities that will help your organization continue operating when systems are unavailable.

Further Reading

• The Retro Revolution: Why Manual Workarounds Are a BC Must
• When Everything Clicks: Lessons from an Outstanding Mock-Disaster Exercise
• Dropping the Ball: Why BC Lessons Learned Too Often Go to Waste
• The Cloud Is Not a Magic Kingdom: Misconceptions About Cloud-Based IT/DR
• Same Old, Same Old: To BC Pros, the Challenges of the Iran War Are Not New
  

Frequently Asked Questions

In the context of business continuity and operational resilience, what is a manual workaround?

A manual workaround is an alternate way of performing a business process when the normal, system-based method is unavailable due to an outage. It allows an organization to continue operating in a limited way until systems are restored. Manual workarounds are short-term, “good enough” solutions designed to help an organization limp along for a day or two during a disruption.

How long are manual workarounds typically expected to sustain operations?

Manual workarounds are usually designed to support operations for a short period—typically 24 to 72 hours, and in some cases a few days. This limited window is often enough to bridge the gap until systems are restored and normal operations can resume.

For most technology-dependent business processes, what is the foundation of a viable manual workaround?

The foundation is access to critical data that has been regularly saved and stored in a secure environment outside the primary systems. This data provides a snapshot of what was happening at the time of the disruption and gives teams a starting point for continuing the process manually.

In the corporate world today, what is the most common stance toward manual workarounds?

Most organizations acknowledge that they should have manual workarounds for their critical processes. However, relatively few take the time to actually develop, document, and test them. As a result, there is often a gap between awareness and action, leaving organizations exposed when systems go down.

Why do organizations often struggle to implement manual workarounds?

Many organizations assume that manual workarounds are too difficult to design due to the volume of data or complexity of their systems. Others simply do not prioritize the effort required to develop and test them.

For organizations that lack manual workarounds, what are some steps they can take to begin closing this critical vulnerability?

Organizations can start by focusing on one or two of their most critical processes—the ones that would cause the greatest disruption if they failed. From there, they should identify what data is needed to continue those processes manually and work with IT to securely capture and store that data outside their primary systems.

They can then design simple, practical methods—often using spreadsheets or basic tools—to carry out the process manually, and test those methods to ensure they are workable in a real disruption.