BCP vs DR

Organizations are only as good as their current system being used. This system encompasses all processes ranging from human capital down to the various aspects of operations such as production, quality assurance and even disaster preparedness. In this regard, an organization can only survive if it employs certain strategies that will make it live longer. Two of these strategies are the BCP and the DR. These two strategies or disciplines are related because both of them help the organization from being disrupted from any untoward variables either internal or external in nature.

BCP is completely known as Business Continuity Planning. The definition of such a term is really easy for the term already speaks of what it is all about ‘“ continuity of the business. It is simply the state of being ready for any unforeseen incident that can disrupt the day to day process or operation of businesses and organizations alike. Hence, it is a good management strategy wherein the organization is ensured that it can always maintain its standards and service levels even if there are some challenges that come its way.

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. Nowadays, the trend or focus for both BCP and DR is on the IT or information technology of the organization. With major operations being mostly shouldered by computer applications and automated programs, these businesses prioritize saving or healing their IT system above all else. Any organization will not argue that they really don’t want to be offline or un-powered for a lengthened duration.

All in all, Disaster Recovery or DR is, without a doubt, not similar BCP because:

1. BCP stands for Business Continuity Planning whereas DR is Disaster Recovery.

2. BCP is a proactive strategy whereas DR is a reactive approach.

3. BCP helps prevent and anticipates a disaster or unfavorable incident in advance whereas DR is a strategy that treats or recovers from disasters and the like.

Hope the above is informative.

Thanks

Logan