The risks to a business of downtime of any of their technology systems is increasing. Most businesses are now highly dependent on their technology, and risks of cyberattacks, equipment failures, or natural disasters are on the rise. his is why organizations must be ready to weather disruptions and stay resilient. Two critical strategies for achieving this are business continuity and disaster recovery. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they serve distinct purposes in safeguarding your business.
What is business continuity?
Business continuity refers to a business's ability to keep essential functions operational during disruptive events such as crashed servers, hardware failures, and ransomware attacks. It involves identifying potential threats and developing strategies to mitigate their impact. But beyond just protecting data, business continuity solutions ensure your operations can continue, even in the face of challenges, and help you minimize downtime, financial losses, and reputational damage.
A comprehensive business continuity plan consists of the following elements:
- Risk assessment – This involves identifying potential threats, assessing their likelihood, and evaluating their potential impact on the business.
- Business impact analysis – This report identifies the key functions and processes necessary to keep a business running, helping organizations assess the potential impact of unexpected incidents.
- Continuity strategies – Deploying these strategies enable businesses to maintain critical functions such as restoring servers in a virtual environment — locally or in the cloud — to sustain operations.
- Crisis communication plan – Keep employees, customers, and stakeholders informed by establishing communication procedures during an emergency situation.
- Testing and training – Regularly testing the business continuity plan (and updating it when necessary) lets you determine whether it will be effective in the event of a crisis. This component also involves conducting training sessions aimed at educating employees on their roles and responsibilities during a disaster.
What is disaster recovery?
Disaster recovery, on the other hand, refers to the ability to restore IT systems and data after catastrophic events such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or fires that damage or destroy a business’s facilities. Its primary goal is to minimize downtime and return the business to normal operations as quickly as possible.
The key elements of a disaster recovery plan include:
- Data backup and recovery – A crucial part of this involves creating copies of critical data in a remote off-site location (or cloud) and ensuring its quick retrieval. Backup data should be “air gapped” so that backup data cannot be accessed, modified, or removed during a cyberattack.
- Cloud-based recovery – This recovery strategy enables businesses to bring up critical systems quickly in a cloud environment, at least on a limited basis, to maintain operations during extended outages.
- Disaster recovery site – This involves establishing a secondary site to which IT operations can be relocated in case of a primary site failure.
- Incident response team – A team responsible for responding to incidents and coordinating recovery efforts must be formed to help ensure the plan's implementation.
- Testing and validation – Consistently evaluating the disaster recovery plan is crucial to verify its effectiveness.
Business continuity vs. disaster recovery: Key differences
While both plans are aimed at safeguarding your business from untoward events, they address distinct aspects of disaster preparedness:
| Aspect | Business continuity | Disaster recovery |
| Primary focus | Keeping operations running | Restoring IT systems |
| Scope | All business functions | Primarily IT infrastructure |
| Approach | Proactive measures during a crisis | Reactive measures after a disaster |
Key takeaway: Business continuity ensures critical operations continue during a disruption, while disaster recovery focuses on restoring IT systems to their full functionality after the disaster.
Which do you need: A business continuity plan or a disaster recovery plan?
The answer is simple: you need both. Relying on only one plan leaves your business vulnerable, as both business continuity and disaster recovery address distinct aspects of maintaining operations during disruptions.
By investing in these two plans, your business can:
Reduce the impact of disruptions
A well-designed business continuity plan ensures essential functions remain operational during crises, which saves you from substantial productivity losses. Disaster recovery complements this by restoring IT systems quickly to prevent prolonged outages and revenue loss.
Maintain customer trust
Business continuity keeps communication channels open, while disaster recovery demonstrates your ability to resume services swiftly. When you can show your customers that you're capable of doing both, you build their confidence. That's because customers value businesses that can meet their needs even in challenging times.
Ensure regulatory compliance & reduce risk
Many industries require robust continuity and recovery plans to meet regulatory standards, as these plans help protect businesses, customers, and stakeholders from disruptions. Investing in both plans ensures compliance, reduces the risk of penalties, and shows a commitment to preparedness.
Protect employees and stakeholders
Your employees and stakeholders depend on your organization's capacity to manage a crisis, and a business continuity plan offers clear procedures to protect their interests and offers guidance on how they can function during a crisis. Disaster recovery complements a business continuity plan by restoring the systems your business stakeholders depend on, creating a unified framework for resilience.
Stay competitive
A comprehensive business continuity plan ensures operational stability, while a disaster recovery plan minimizes IT-related delays. Together, they help you retain customers, maintain market share, and adapt to challenges effectively.
Partner with Fidelis for expert guidance
Disruptions are inevitable, but their impact doesn't have to be catastrophic. By partnering with Fidelis's IT experts, you can develop and implement effective business continuity and disaster recovery plans customized to your requirements. Schedule a consultation with us today to get started.
