If you work within the corporate realm then for sure you have already come across or heard the above mentioned. If you are familiar, well, rest assured that there is always something new to learn.
These terms are often confused as similar, but they are different in many ways. Let us delve deeper to get acquainted about when these two are used, why, and what are the differences.
Business Continuity Plan
Serious companies encompass strategies which ensure that business continues normally, or at least swiftly resumes during or after a major interruption. This is called a business continuity plan or BCP.
It must be planned in a way that it covers any type of disruptions, from minor to major ones, like natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, to technological types the likes of power outages, pandemics, or cyberattacks.
The long-term resilience of business operations is safeguarded by managing any immediate threats, which ultimately is the scope of a comprehensive BCP. A proactive company takes and implements measures to maintain its customer service such as installing backup power generators to prevent major disruptions during a power outage. In tandem, it might implement another separate plan to route calls to a second location or use mobile technology managing inquiries remotely. This way it ensures an uninterrupted customer support.
Disaster Recovery Plan
When a business is directly hit or suffers a major disruption, the specialised documented strategy to reinstate data, IT systems, and infrastructure, enabling it to resume normal operations is called the disaster recovery plan or DRP.
Incidents which typically call for a DRP include prolonged power outages, hardware failures, natural disasters, and threats like malware or ransomware attacks.
Ideally the DRP would include immediate steps to carry out as soon as a major disruption is incurred, for example in the form of a cyberattack. A DRP procedure isolates affected systems, targets and eliminates the threat, while recovering operations with clean backups. Critical systems are prioritised, while the restoration process is applied in line with pre-defined Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO).
Disaster Recovery vs Business Continuity Plans – The Differences
So, how does business continuity planning differ from disaster recovery planning? Both DRP and BCP aim to resolve and restore normality or business as usual, but they serve unique functions which are activated under different circumstances.
The table below assists in listing the key aspects which distinguish these two types of plans:
BCP & DRP – Differences Across Various Business Functions
Now, let us pursue with a comprehensive overview of the critical distinctions between business continuity and disaster recovery plans. It is crucial to grasp these differences since each plan covers several aspects of organisational resilience.
Focus and Scope
Recovering IT systems and data is the DRP`s forte. These plans minimise IT downtime as they include strategies for cloud backups and recovery, system restoration, and data protection. Since they focus on the IT infrastructure needed to support business operations, their scope is primarily technical. An organisation`s ability to support operations during and after disruptions derive from DRP.
On the other hand, the broader spectrum of business operations is addressed by BCP, making sure that there is no further interruption for the continuation of all critical business functions. Thus, they incorporate not only IT systems but also human intervention, supply chain management, customer service, and other operational aspects.
Activation Timing
After a disaster is incurred the DRP is typically activated to facilitate recovery, which entails restoring data and IT systems as quickly as possible.
As regards to BCP it is more a proactive approach by the company implementing strategies before, during, and after the incident. Its ultimate target is to minimise the impact of disruptions on the business` overall functionality while maintaining company`s operations.
Objective
The DRP primary goal is to reduce data loss and downtime via IT system restoration and ransomware recovery, while a BCP aims to hold services and critical operations, making sure that the company continues to function despite disruptions. It covers the continuation of all business functions, not just IT.
Key Components
DRP key parts include recovery and data backups, while it also incorporates IT infrastructure restoration. Moreover, DRP outlines how data will be recuperated, systems restored, and the continuation of IT services.
On the contrary, BCP includes communication strategies, risk assessment, and operational continuity plans. This strategy also includes procedures for managing resources during a disruption, communicating with stakeholders, while maintaining business functions.
Responsible Teams
Tasks related to the managing of disaster recovery plans and implementing recovery procedures to assist in the restoration of IT systems are usually carried out by the IT and technical teams.
On the other hand, cross-departmental teams including operations and HR, are involved in conducting business continuity plans. In fact, multiple departments are engaged forming a collaborative effort in executing BCPs, ensuring comprehensive coverage of all business aspects.
These seemingly independent concepts can be also integrated and made to work together as a holistic approach to assist organisations minimise the impact of catastrophic even natural events, provide peace of mind for both business owners and employees, while fostering growth.
In Conclusion
It is evident by now that business continuity and disaster recovery plans are essential for your business` risk management strategy to succeed. That is why it is important to revise the procedures, conduct drills, and update/tweak when necessary, so they are always effective.
As a last suggestion, it is even better if you manage to integrate them as a holistic approach as this way you will be protecting your business from disruption, while boosting operational resilience.