What is the difference between bcp and dr

In the wake of a very active hurricane season last year and considering the current volcanic eruptions in Hawaii, financial institutions are well aware of the importance of disaster preparation and the need to be ready for the unexpected.

If your financial institution were affected by a natural disaster and your systems went down, how long would it take to get your institution up and running again?

Would your organization have the resources in place to restore critical systems quickly and efficiently? However, in times of crisis, it is equally important to have a comprehensive disaster recovery DR plan in place as well.

This plan outlines what needs to happen to ensure that key products and services continue to be delivered in case of a disaster. In addition, BCP is a preventive and proactive strategy of ensuring business continuity. It therefore helps in lessening the probable damage that could have resulted if there were no safety preparations employed prior to the incident.

On the other hand, DR or Disaster Recovery is obviously recovering from a disaster. It is the strategy of intelligent recuperation from a negative incident of any magnitude. Thus, DR is simply a reactive approach. It is more of a treatment given to a disease rather than a preventive measure. With major operations being mostly shouldered by computer applications and automated programs, these businesses prioritize saving or healing their IT system above all else.

BCP is a proactive strategy whereas DR is a reactive approach. They know what they must do and when they must do it. For every job there is to do, someone must be designated to do it. So, the plan has to include practice and update of the plan as necessary. The plan must also focus on customers and the supply chain.

Suppliers must know that their payment invoices are in the pipeline and ready for payment. Customers must be confident that their orders will be filled or only temporarily delayed, perhaps with a discount premium. Finally, your BC plan must include a process to replace and recover your IT systems. That contains valuable business data. For example, is your network designed for data backup and recovery?

Failover is where a secondary system kicks in when the first one goes down. How much will it cost you to replace storm-ruined hardware? Disaster recovery is a subspace of total business continuity planning. A DR plan includes getting systems up and running following a disaster.

Of that 93 percent, 60 percent can expect to shut down within six months. A complete system crash and loss of data is like the aftermath of a burglary. One contributing cause in those business failures is the lack of a written plan.

The plan should include a business impact analysis. Many businesses write the plan, but neglect to update it, at least annually. For example, when the natural disaster Hurricane Harvey caused unexpected inland flooding in Houston. Many businesses were quickly inundated as people struggled to evacuate.

On the other hand, DR can actually stand alone, and many companies can do just fine without a full continuity plan. While these plans are slightly different, they do share the same common goals — to offer support and assistance during a disaster. Therefore, regardless of what type of plan you decide to adopt, there are common elements both need to incorporate in order to be successful.

With a plan that is carefully prepared, tested, and updated on a regular basis, you should be able to better weather any disaster. If you are looking for information on how to develop or improve your plans get in touch with us today.

What is a BCP? What is DR? An operational plan for potential disasters that could happen in your geographical area.