Business Continuity vs Disaster Recovery: What’s the Difference?
Disaster can strike at any time, which is why understanding business continuity vs disaster recovery is crucial for the survival of any organisation – no matter how big or small.
Although both business continuity and disaster recovery are important and even similar in some respects, do not confuse the two or assume that they are the same. Having robust plans for both will ensure that your business can resume operations as quickly as possible and avoid losing vital data should a disruptive event occur.
One way to establish effective and reliable business continuity and disaster recovery plans is to use the Mataco™ business continuity software system. This cloud-based tool makes business continuity and disaster recovery easier than ever by allowing you to access your plans across multiple devices no matter your location.
Contact the team today to find out more about how Mataco can help to streamline your business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning.
What exactly are business continuity and disaster recovery?
Business continuity plans provide a clear plan of action for a business during and after a disaster. This plan may include contingency measures, such as how the business will continue operations even if it must relocate to another site. Business continuity planning may also account for smaller interruptions or minor disasters, such as prolonged power outages or human errors.
Disaster recovery plans outline the measures a business will take to respond to a catastrophic event and get critical business functions back to normal as quickly as possible. It ensures that vital data and IT infrastructure can be retrieved with minimal disruption to business operations.
The difference between business continuity vs disaster recovery
There are many similarities between business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning, and it’s true that the two concepts work best when developed alongside each other.
For example, both are proactive strategies that take a pre-emptive approach to various threats and disruptions. Rather than reacting to a disaster when it happens, both strategies are designed to minimise the effects of a disaster before it occurs.
However, there are also some key distinctions between business continuity vs disaster recovery that business leaders must be aware of if they want to be sufficiently prepared for disaster:
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Business continuity strategy |
Disaster recovery strategy |
|
Focuses on keeping your business operational when disaster strikes. |
Focuses on returning your business to normal as quickly as possible following a disaster by restoring data access and IT infrastructure. |
|
Has the goal of limiting operational downtime. |
Has the goal of limiting inefficient system functions. |
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Ensures that vital communication methods (e.g. phones and network servers) can continue operating during a crisis. |
Ensures that your business can return to full functionality after a disaster occurs. |
|
Is a broader process of safeguarding a business against all contingencies. |
Is one aspect of a business’ wider business continuity strategy. |
These differences highlight the fact that organisations need to have both kinds of plans in place to minimise disruptions to their business operations. Only by combining the two can businesses be fully prepared for potentially catastrophic events like natural disasters, cyber-attacks, or major disasters such as fires.
The risks of not having a strong business continuity and disaster recovery plan in place
Failing to have a strong business continuity and disaster recovery plan in place can have catastrophic consequences for businesses of all sizes and from all industries.
These could include:
- Inability for the business to function
- Reduction in productivity
- Financial losses
- Damage to reputation
- Complete loss of data
- Legal consequences (particularly if the failure to plan results in regulatory violations)
So, how can businesses ensure they are prepared for the worst-case scenario with effective business continuity and disaster recovery planning? Savant specialises in bespoke database and software development that can help your business run smoothly, even in the event of a full-scale emergency.
Discover Savant’s Mataco for reliable business continuity and disaster recovery solutions
Creating effective business continuity and disaster recovery plans can be a daunting task, but Savant’s Mataco makes the process easy and straightforward.
Mataco is a cloud-based business continuity software system that allows businesses to centralise their business continuity and disaster recovery plans all in one place. It is designed to record and maintain all the business information, documentation, and tasks required for an effective, robust, and complete implementation of your business continuity and disaster recovery strategies.
Savant has been delivering reliable business continuity and disaster recovery solutions to businesses for over 30 years, so you can trust our software to guarantee that your business is prepared for anything.
Contact us today via our online form or call 01524 784400 to find out more about Mataco and the importance of business continuity vs disaster recovery planning.
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