FAQ — Meridian Resilience LLC | Fractional DR & Resilience Advisory

Question 1

How is this different from hiring a full-time DR or resilience leader?

Accepted Answer

A full-time senior DR/risk leader runs $200K–$265K loaded in year one, plus a 3–6 month ramp — for a function that's intense in bursts (assessment, BIA, tabletop, audit prep) and quiet between them. Fractional gives you the same senior-level judgment and Incident Commander experience, scoped to what you need this quarter, without carrying a full salary line year-round.

Question 2

We already have a DR plan and passed our last audit. Why would we need this?

Accepted Answer

Passing an audit proves a document exists — it doesn't prove your organization can execute that plan under real time pressure, without the one person who wrote it. Most engagements start with a gap assessment that tells you honestly whether "audit-ready" and "recovery-ready" are the same thing at your organization. Often they're not.

Question 3

What does "fractional" actually look like — a retainer, a project, or both?

Accepted Answer

Both, depending on what you need. Some engagements are scoped and finite — a BIA, a tabletop exercise, a program build. Others run ongoing, as a Fractional Resilience Executive handling governance, vendor validation, and executive reporting. We scope it on the discovery call based on where your program actually is, not a fixed package.

Question 4

Do you work with our internal IT and security teams, or replace them?

Accepted Answer

Work with them. Most clients already have IT and security staff who own pieces of this — what's usually missing is senior program leadership tying it together, and someone who's actually run a declared incident as Incident Commander. I sit alongside your team, not instead of it.

Question 5

How long does a typical engagement take?

Accepted Answer

Depends on scope — a focused tabletop exercise can run a few weeks; a full BC/DR program build to ISO 22301 alignment usually takes several months. Because it's fractional rather than headcount, pace is set by your priorities and risk exposure, not a hiring cycle.

Question 6

We don't have a formal BC/DR program yet. Can you still help?

Accepted Answer

Yes — that's a common starting point. Building from first policy is different work than maturing an existing program, but the approach is the same: an honest assessment of where you are, then a program built to be operated, not filed away for the next audit.

Question 7

What happens if we're in the middle of an active incident right now?

Accepted Answer

Say so on the call. Crisis management support — incident command structure, decision-making under pressure — is one of the services offered directly, not something that only shows up after a longer program engagement.

Question 8

What size organizations do you typically work with?

Accepted Answer

Primarily mid-market organizations — big enough to carry real recovery risk (regulatory, cloud concentration, vendor exposure) but not big enough to justify a $200K+ full-time DR leader. If you're earlier or later stage than that, it's still worth a conversation to see whether fractional fits.

Questions worth asking before a discovery call.

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