What is the difference between disaster recovery and business continuity?

by Ongoing Operations

by. Robin Remines

Each week our professional services team works with credit unions all over the nation in developing DR/BCP plans. One of the most common topics of discussion during these visits is about the difference between “disaster recovery” and “business continuity“. Using them interchangeably could be a huge mistake and result in your credit union being unprepared when a disaster strikes. Let’s look closer to see why!

Business Continuity (BCP) – Well, the official word (from the DRII) says that BCP is:

” The process which occurs, based on risk evaluation and business impact analysis, to identify procedures, priorities and resources for:

  • emergency response operations;
  • business continuity strategies for the organization’s functions and supporting infrastructure;
  • crisis communications; and
  • coordination with external agencies.

Note: The planning process should encompass response through restoration, and result in the creation of one or more of the following types of plan documents: disaster recovery (DR) plans, crisis management plans or pandemic plans.”

What? What was that last line? A disaster recovery plan (as well as many other types of plans) is just one PART of the overall business continuity plan! Your BCP efforts, on the other hand, are organization-wide, holistic and include strategic discussions on RTO/RPO, member expectations and resource allocation (people included!). Your DR plan is born out of that effort.

continue reading »