The State of Backup & Recovery in Manufacturing 2026
Independent research into how manufacturers are approaching backup, recovery, and operational resilience across IT and OT environments.
Based on responses from mid-market and enterprise manufacturing organizations across the UK and North America.
Why Backup and Recovery Remain a Critical Challenge for Manufacturers
Manufacturing environments are becoming more complex, more connected, and more exposed to disruption.
From ransomware and cyber incidents to hardware failure and human error, downtime is no longer a question of if, but when. In these environments, the ability to recover systems quickly and reliably is just as critical as the ability to back them up.
As IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments converge, recovery becomes harder - not easier. Legacy systems, distributed sites, and mixed infrastructure models introduce new risks that many organisations are still struggling to address.
This research was designed to understand how manufacturers are actually approaching backup and recovery today — where confidence exists, where gaps remain, and how prepared organisations really are when recovery is required.
What the Research Reveals
Manufacturers face growing pressure to ensure systems can be recovered quickly and reliably - yet recovery readiness often lags behind expectations.
This research highlights where confidence breaks down in practice, why recovery targets are missed, and the technical and organizational challenges that make improvement difficult.
Together, these findings show that backup alone is not enough - recovery readiness requires regular testing, realistic targets, and close coordination across IT and OT teams.
Legacy systems and technical debt remain the biggest recovery challenge
Manufacturing environments often rely on long-lived systems that were never designed with modern recovery expectations in mind.
The research shows that nearly two thirds of organisations view legacy technology and technical debt as the primary obstacle to improving backup and recovery.
These systems increase complexity, limit testing options, and make recovery slower and less predictable.
Why This Matters
When legacy systems dominate:
- • Recovery processes become fragile
- • Modern tools are harder to deploy
- • Testing and validation are constrained
Improving recovery readiness often requires working around — not replacing — legacy infrastructure.