What should a business continuity and recovery plan establish first?
Start with the work that must continue and the information needed to restore it. Axus recommends defining 4 decisions together: critical functions, acceptable downtime, tolerable data loss and response ownership. Document the recovery sequence, keep communications accessible and test the plan with the people who will use it during an interruption.
Build one plan for continuing operations and restoring systems
Business continuity keeps essential functions operating during a disruption. Disaster recovery restores the IT systems, applications and data those functions depend on. Treat them as connected work: a restored server is not enough if staff cannot reach a workplace, contact customers or carry out a critical process.
The plan should address natural disasters, cyberattacks, equipment failures and supplier disruption. Tie its objectives to business priorities, then document the responsibilities, resources and recovery actions needed to meet them.
Assess risks and identify critical functions
Identify potential threats and evaluate their likelihood and impact. A business impact analysis should establish which functions matter most, how they depend on one another, and what an interruption would mean financially and operationally. Customer service, sales and IT support may have different recovery priorities.
Determine acceptable downtime for each function and establish recovery time objectives (RTOs). Use those decisions to prioritize recovery work and allocate resources. Set measurable continuity objectives so exercises can test the plan against a clear purpose.
Assemble the response team and keep communications accessible
Assign a response team with representatives from the departments involved. Define each person’s role and make the procedures accessible to the staff expected to use them. Document the sequence of actions for different disruptions, the expected recovery timeline and the resources required.
Keep contact information for key personnel, employees, customers and other stakeholders current. Define the communication channels and protocols the team will use during a crisis, including alternatives if a normal channel is unavailable. Staff need to know who communicates updates as well as who performs technical recovery.
Prepare alternative ways to keep work moving
Identify remote-work arrangements or designated backup facilities that can support essential operations if the primary site becomes unusable. Check that the chosen location and available resources fit the functions the business expects to continue.
Document these choices alongside data backup and alternative communication arrangements. Cloud services, VoIP and remote-access tools can support the plan, but their roles should be explicit. Communicate the recovery strategies to employees so the plan does not depend on knowledge held by one person.
Design the backup and recovery arrangements
- Data Backup Solutions: Implement a robust data backup strategy to ensure that critical data is regularly backed up and can be quickly restored. The 3-2-1 backup rule, keeping three copies of data, on two different media, with one copy off-site, can help mitigate data loss risks. Regularly test your backups to ensure they are functioning correctly.
Use secure off-site storage and consider cloud copies where they fit the recovery design. Automated backups can reduce reliance on someone remembering to start a job; they still belong within a documented and tested recovery process.
Cloud disaster recovery can provide another way to restore data and systems. Evaluate providers against the organization’s requirements rather than selecting solely on the availability of cloud storage. Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is an outsourcing option when a third-party provider will perform agreed recovery work and reduce the load on internal IT.
Virtualization can support recovery through virtual copies of systems and reduce reliance on replacing physical hardware before work can resume. Record how these options fit the recovery timeline and the resources needed to operate them.
Document the plan as a working set of instructions
Keep the continuity and recovery procedures together with responsibilities, contacts, timelines and resource allocations. Make the instructions easy to find and update. Use them to train employees and to guide the team during an exercise.
| Planning decision | Record needed for implementation |
|---|---|
| Critical functions and dependencies | Business impact analysis and recovery priorities |
| Acceptable interruption | Recovery time objectives for the functions involved |
| Response ownership | Named roles and departmental responsibilities |
| Continuity arrangements | Remote work or backup facilities and the resources they require |
| Communications | Current contacts, channels and notification responsibilities |
| Technical recovery | Backup, cloud, virtualization or DRaaS procedures and responsibilities |
| Recovery sequence | Step-by-step instructions, timelines and resource allocation |
| Plan maintenance | Review process and updates after organizational or technology changes |
Exercise the plan at different levels
Train employees on their roles, then test whether the procedures work. Tabletop exercises let key personnel walk through a hypothetical disruption and discuss decisions and responsibilities. Full-scale drills provide an opportunity to practice the response under a simulated disaster scenario.
Test whether systems and data can actually be restored. Document the results, identify weaknesses and update the recovery procedures. Training and exercises should refine the plan rather than simply confirm that a document exists. Repeat them as the organization, technology and threat environment change.
Apply the requirements relevant to your organization
The earlier guides identify HIPAA, SOC 2 and CMMC as requirements to consider. Establish which apply to the actual organization, service and information involved. HIPAA has defined covered-entity and business-associate scope; SOC 2 is an assurance framework, not a general business-continuity law; CMMC obligations depend on applicable defense-contract requirements. HHS scope, AICPA criteria, DoD assessment information.
Review the plan against applicable obligations and relevant guidance from NIST and CIS. Keep the supporting documentation and use audits or assessments where appropriate. Changes in the business, its systems or requirements should trigger a review of the continuity and recovery arrangements.
Put the plan into use
Begin with the risk assessment and business impact analysis. Set recovery objectives, establish the response team, document alternative work arrangements, and test the technical recovery process. Maintain the plan as responsibilities and systems change.
Axus managed IT services and backup and disaster recovery services can support planning, implementation and ongoing maintenance. The result should be a set of actions the business can practice and improve.
Set recovery objectives and make the backup arrangement explicit
Define recovery time objectives for the services involved and recovery point objectives for the data they depend on. The remaining source guide distinguishes these concepts and gives a planning example:
Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO): RTO refers to the maximum acceptable downtime, while RPO indicates the maximum amount of data loss you can tolerate. Understanding these metrics helps prioritize recovery efforts.
Establishing clear RTO and RPO metrics allows you to allocate resources effectively during a disaster. For example, mission-critical applications may require an RTO of less than one hour, while less critical systems may have a longer acceptable downtime.
The earlier source also describes the copy arrangement this way:
It's crucial to implement a 3-2-1 backup strategy: three total copies of your data, two of which are local but on different devices, and one copy offsite. This approach minimizes the risk of data loss.
Read that local-device description alongside the different-media description above. Record the actual copies, locations, protection and restoration procedures rather than assuming a label proves recovery. Schedule backups according to the data-loss tolerance; daily or weekly schedules are examples to evaluate, not a common requirement for every workload. Test backup integrity and the ability to restore the required data.
Include redundancy for critical servers and networking equipment, virtualization and cloud capacity in the recovery design. Revisit the business impact analysis when operations, dependencies or technology change. Involve affected departments when assessing internal risks such as staff turnover and IT failures, as well as external events and cyber threats.
Prepare crisis messages and physical-site procedures
Identify a spokesperson and prepare message templates for employees, customers and external partners. Decide which email, SMS or other communication channels remain usable if a normal service is unavailable. Keep the contact list and instructions accessible during that failure, with authorized access to any cloud copy.
For earthquake preparation, include the building and equipment in the planning discussion. Arrange appropriate building inspections, evacuation procedures and drills; secure heavy equipment and review the location and physical protection of IT systems. Consider earthquakes and wildfires alongside cyber incidents when choosing continuity arrangements. A location described as safe still needs a specific site-risk assessment.
Use NIST CSF 2.0 and CIS Controls v8.1 as planning references alongside the requirements that apply to the organization. Train all employees on their roles. Review firewalls and endpoint protection, phishing reporting, penetration-testing findings and incident procedures with the responsible technical team. Short-term restoration options and longer-term alternative-site arrangements should both support the business priorities established in the plan.
Keep the earlier data-loss claim in its original context
Introduction In 2026, studies suggest that 70% of businesses that experience a major data loss will shut down within a year. This alarming statistic highlights the critical importance of Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) planning. For Southern California businesses, where natural disasters and cyber threats are prevalent, having a robust BC and DR strategy is not just prudent. It's essential.
Source context: The data-loss closure percentage has no identified underlying study or defined sample in the earlier guide. Its original year, major-data-loss condition and one-year period remain historical claim context, not a forecast for this business.