When disaster strikes, you'll want to ensure your data, organization, and team are protected and prepared. It is critical to prepare for a potential disaster by having a thorough disaster recovery plan (DRP) and business continuity plan (BCP) in place. Many mistakenly confuse business continuity and disaster recovery for the same. In order to ensure proper planning, it is crucial to understand that although these terms are complementary to one another, they are, in fact, two separate concepts.
Business Continuity vs. Disaster Recovery: What is the Difference?
A business continuity plan (BCP) considers various unpredictable events, such as natural disasters, fires, cyberattacks and other external threats that could threaten the entire organization. More specifically, a BCP details the necessary steps the organization needs to take to remain operable during and after an unpredictable event. It also considers the best way prevent or minimize the negative consequences of a disaster from occurring at all.
On the other hand, a disaster recovery (DR) plan outlines the processes and procedures an organization needs to follow to recover its critical applications, data, and systems after a disaster occurs.
Disaster recovery and business continuity are complementary. A thorough DR plan ensures an organization can maintain its business continuity after a disaster or unpredictable event and be present in the overall BCP.
How Do The Two Fit Together?
Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity and is necessary to ensure systems and data are continuously recoverable. BCP is larger in scope and incorporates the entire organization and all aspects a disaster may impact, such as a secondary site for staff in case of a primary site disaster, emergency staff scheduling, customer communications, alternate vendors, and more.
To effectively establish a DR plan, an organization must know their Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO). An RPO dictates the amount of data the organization can afford to lose. On the other hand, RTO measures how long your organization can operate without a specific application. These two parameters will determine the type of technologies an organization must incorporate into their DR plan and the procedures and strategies they must consider. Some may choose to hire a managed service provider to handle their DR, whereas others may choose to manage their own. Disaster recovery planning and replication are all just a small part of Business Continuity Planning; they can influence an organization’s ability to retain business continuity in a disaster situation.
Successful disaster recovery and business continuity planning are essential for any organization. When disaster strikes, organizations need to be prepared and recover data and operations in a timely and efficient manner. With an established strategy and plan, organizations can maintain operations and continue business as usual with little to zero impact. However, it is also essential to understand the difference between the two concepts and establish a plan that incorporates both to ensure your organization can confidently recover.