When you discover that critical data is missing from your HubSpot portal, your first instinct is panic. Your second is a frantic scramble to figure out what to do next. The moment of crisis is precisely the wrong time to be designing your response strategy. Missteps made under pressure can often make a bad situation worse.
A disaster recovery plan isn't just a document; it's a pre-agreed procedure that turns chaos into a calm, methodical process. It ensures everyone knows their role, what steps to take, and how to communicate, minimising downtime and restoring order quickly.
Having a backup solution like backHUB is your insurance policy. This plan is the procedure for making a claim.
Use the template below to create your own HubSpot Disaster Recovery Plan. Fill in the blanks, share it with your team, and store it somewhere accessible outside of HubSpot.
HubSpot Data Disaster Recovery Plan
Objective: To provide a clear, step-by-step process for responding to a critical data loss event within our HubSpot portal, ensuring swift recovery and minimal business disruption.
The Core Response Team
This team is responsible for managing the incident from detection to resolution.
- Incident Lead:
[Name, Job Title, e.g., John Smith, Head of RevOps]- Responsibility: Overall coordination of the response, makes final decisions.
- Technical Lead:
[Name, Job Title, e.g., Jane Doe, HubSpot Administrator]- Responsibility: Technically investigates the data loss and performs the data restoration from the backup system.
- Communications Lead:
[Name, Job Title, e.g., Peter Jones, Marketing Manager]- Responsibility: Manages all internal communications to stakeholders and affected teams.
- Key Department Stakeholders:
- Head of Sales:
[Name] - Head of Marketing:
[Name] - Head of Customer Service:
[Name] - IT/Security Lead:
[Name]
- Head of Sales:
Immediate Actions (The First 30 Minutes)
The moment a potential data loss is detected, follow these steps immediately.
Step 1: Confirm the Incident
- The person who discovers the issue immediately notifies the Incident Lead.
- The Incident Lead and Technical Lead work together to quickly verify:
- What data is missing (e.g., specific contacts, deals, properties)?
- What is the potential scope and impact?
- When was the data last seen?
Step 2: Assemble the Response Team
- The Incident Lead activates the Core Response Team via a dedicated emergency channel (e.g., a specific Slack channel, a group chat).
Step 3: Contain the Problem
- The Technical Lead will immediately pause any systems that could make the problem worse. This may include:
- Pausing relevant HubSpot workflows.
- Temporarily disabling the third-party integration suspected of causing the issue.
- Halting any planned data imports/exports.
Step 4: Initial Communication
- The Communications Lead sends a brief holding statement to the heads of affected departments.
- Example: "We are currently investigating a data integrity issue within HubSpot. We have paused related systems to prevent further problems. Our response team is working on it now, and we will provide an update within the hour."
- Example: "We are currently investigating a data integrity issue within HubSpot. We have paused related systems to prevent further problems. Our response team is working on it now, and we will provide an update within the hour."
The Recovery Process
This is the technical procedure for restoring the lost data.
Step 1: Access the Backup Platform
- The Technical Lead logs into the company's independent backup solution:
[Backup Solution Name, e.g., backHUB].
Step 2: Identify the Last Known Good State
- Based on the information gathered, the Technical Lead identifies the last backup snapshot taken before the data was lost.
- Date of last known good state:
[DD/MM/YYYY] - Time of last known good state:
[HH:MM]
- Date of last known good state:
Step 3: Initiate the Data Restore
- The Technical Lead follows the backup platform’s procedure to initiate a point-in-time restore.
- A decision will be made whether to perform a full restore or a partial/granular restore of only the affected records to minimise disruption. This decision is made by the Incident Lead and Technical Lead.
Step 4: Verify the Restored Data
- Once the restore process is complete, the Technical Lead and relevant Department Stakeholders will spot-check a sample of the recovered data in HubSpot to confirm it is accurate and complete.
Post-Incident Review
After the immediate crisis is resolved, the team must learn from it.
Step 1: Conduct a Root Cause Analysis
- The Response Team will convene within 48 hours to determine the root cause of the data loss (e.g., human error, faulty integration, malicious action).
Step 2: Document the Incident
- The Incident Lead will write a brief report detailing the timeline of events, the actions taken, the outcome, and the root cause.
Step -3: Update Processes & Training
- Based on the root cause, the team will implement preventative measures. This could include:
- Revising user permissions.
- Providing new training to team members.
- Vetting and removing a faulty application.
Step 4: Final Communication
- The Communications Lead sends a final update confirming the issue is resolved and outlining any new procedures that are being put in place.
A plan is only useful if you can execute it. And you can only execute a recovery if you have data to recover from. This document is your roadmap for a crisis, but an independent, automated backup is the vehicle that will get you to safety.
To learn more about building a complete data protection strategy, read our cornerstone resource: [The Complete Guide to Protecting Your HubSpot Data from Irreversible Loss].
