Disaster recovery planning (DRP) is often seen as the IT equivalent of a high-cost insurance policy that may never be redeemed, so making the business case for a DRP is difficult at the best of times. Given that the economy's outlook for 2008/2009 is gloomy, IT departments everywhere will be asked to cut or postpone projects until the downturn reverses. For IT departments still moving ahead with DRP projects, knowing when to defer business continuity planning (BCP) will keep the DR work on budget and on track.
DRP vs. BCP: Who Owns What?
Info-Tech fields many queries from clients asking who is responsible for continuity and recovery. Strictly speaking, best practices dictate that IT is accountable for DRP, while the business at large assumes responsibility for BCP. Confusion over ownership arises when neither IT nor the business understand what DRP and BCP actually are, nor where the differences lie between the two.