Updated November 2026
The short version
- Business continuity is about keeping the business going; disaster recovery is about getting technology back.
- Recovery priorities and recovery time objectives come from a business impact analysis.
- Backups, a second internet connection and a tested plan do most of the work.
The difference
- Focus
- Business continuity plan: Sustaining business functions
- Disaster recovery plan: Restoring IT systems, applications and data
- Scope
- Business continuity plan: One or all key business processes
- Disaster recovery plan: Hardware, software, data and connectivity
- Question it answers
- Business continuity plan: How do we keep serving customers?
- Disaster recovery plan: How do we get our systems back?
- Relationship
- Business continuity plan: The overall plan
- Disaster recovery plan: Usually part of the continuity plan
Because each IT system supports a business process, the two plans should be built together so recovery strategies do not conflict or duplicate each other.
What a business continuity plan covers
A business continuity plan focuses on keeping key business functions going, such as taking orders, answering calls or paying staff, during and after a disruption. It can cover one process or every key process, and it looks at technology in terms of how it supports them.
A business impact analysis is where it starts: it ranks which functions matter most and how quickly each one needs to be back.
What a disaster recovery plan covers
An IT disaster recovery plan sets out how to restore hardware, applications and data in time to meet the needs of the business. Its priorities and recovery time objectives come from the business impact analysis.
A good plan expects to lose one or more of these:
- The computer room environment, including climate control and backup power
- Hardware such as networks, servers, computers and wireless devices
- Connectivity to your service provider, whether fiber, cable or wireless
- Software applications such as email and line-of-business systems
- The data itself
How to build a disaster recovery plan
- Inventory your hardware, software applications and data
- Identify the critical applications and data, and the hardware needed to run them
- Back up all critical information, and decide where the copies live
- Plan how to restore each critical system, in priority order
- Document the plan as part of your business continuity plan
- Test it periodically to make sure it works
Backups and connectivity
Backups are the core of recovery. A local copy restores quickly, and a cloud copy stays safe from problems at your office; keeping both gives you speed and safety. Cloud services such as Microsoft 365 need their own backups too.
Connectivity is easy to forget. If your only internet connection is cut, cloud apps and VoIP phones stop with it. A second connection with automatic failover keeps work going while the first is repaired.
How 5x5 Telecom can help
5x5 supports the portions of your business continuity and disaster recovery plan covered by your service agreement; your organization keeps ownership of the plan. We back up local systems and cloud services, including Microsoft 365, to local and cloud destinations, and help you recover after hardware failure, accidental deletion, ransomware or other disruption.
On the connectivity side, SD-WAN moves traffic to another connection if one has a problem. Fixed wireless can be that second connection, with the same SLA as our fiber, and 5G and 4G LTE add a separate cellular path. Our 24/7 US-based team answers every ticket within 60 minutes.
Related services and guides
Backup and recovery
Local systems and cloud services, backed up locally, to the cloud or both.
Ransomware protection
Layered defenses and backups that limit ransomware damage.
Managed SD-WAN
Use several connections together, with automatic failover.
5G business internet
A cellular connection for backup, temporary sites or primary use.