Business Continuity Planning (BCP) vs Disaster Recovery (DR)
Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) are programs done by different organizations and business to ensure that their operations will not be affected in case of devastating events may occur in their area. These two programs are now becoming essentials for businesses and large corporations.
BCP
BCP or Business Continuity Planning is a program in which businesses and organizations are planning ahead the possible crisis and calamities that may affect, greatly, their operation. This crisis is not only limited to natural calamities like flood or thunderstorms but also applicable to the death or sudden resignation of important employees that have key roles in their operations.
DR
DR or Disaster Recovery focuses on the set of actions that businesses will take after suffering disaster may it be natural or man-made. Its sole purpose is business preservation, meaning, how the businesses would cope up and be able to operate again after a disaster occurred like loss of electricity, computer viruses, and thieves. This Disaster Recovery program is a just a part of BCP.
Difference Between BCP and DR
Unlike BCP which focuses on how businesses will continue to operate in the midst of calamities like storms, tornados and hurricanes, the DR program focuses on how to recover from the said events and how to preserve the properties that are integral in their daily operations. The BCP carefully plans the things to make them in order to lessen the amount of damage brought by the whatever natural calamity while the Disaster Recovery Plan, as what its name suggests, plans carefully how to restore and set up the business operation back to its normal condition.
Developing BCP and DR is not as simple as it may look. It involves different processes and brain storming to create and maintain these two programs. Funds also play a vital role because businesses and organizations must allocate monthly or annual funds for support. These are usually available in large business corporations and groups wherein they could afford its creation and maintenance.
| In summary:
• BCP’s main purpose is on how to minimize the damage taken from a calamity while DR’s purpose is how to restore the properties and assets needed for normal operation. • BCP process occurs before and during the calamities whereas DR generally occurs after the calamities. |