Recovery vs Continuity

What's the difference between disaster recovery and business continuity? According to BC consultant John Glenn, DR deals solely with IT and what it perceives as the business units' requirements. BC, on the other hand, focuses on the business units. IT is just one of the functions that serve those units, and it's one facet of business continuity, along with human resources, accounting and emergency preparedness.

"Most IT people think BC is just a new name for DR," says Glenn. "Instead of running the program from IT, it is far more effective to put BC -- of which DR is a subset -- under the CFO, CEO or COO."

In the event of a disaster, BC ensures that the company can continue to provide critical services while the enterprise is being restored to full functionality. BC focuses on avoiding or mitigating risks. DR restores the organization afterward.

"DR must be based on a solid BC plan that has taken into account the reality of the business requirements for recovery," says Michael Croy, director of business continuity at IT infrastructure consultancy Forsythe Technology.

And IT organizations are beginning to get the point.

"We have moved away from the term DR, since it assumes the facility is not available," said Jeff Russell, CIO at The Members Group. "BC, on the other hand, deals with how we continue despite business interruption."