Learn how to plan for and recover from major disruptions — from ransomware to natural disasters — using RTO, RPO, and tested recovery procedures.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Business Continuity (BC) is about keeping the organisation running during a disruption. Disaster Recovery (DR) is about restoring systems after a failure. Together they define how your organisation survives major incidents.
RTO and RPO — The Key Metrics
| System | Example RPO | Example RTO | Backup Frequency Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer database | 1 hour | 2 hours | Continuous / hourly |
| Email system | 4 hours | 4 hours | Every 4 hours |
| Internal wiki | 24 hours | 8 hours | Daily |
| Archive storage | 1 week | 48 hours | Weekly |
⛔ Important
An RTO of “we’ll figure it out when it happens” is not a strategy. Organisations that don’t test their DR plans routinely discover during an actual incident that backups are corrupted, restore procedures don’t work, or documentation is outdated. The only way to know your RTO is achievable is to test it — regularly.
Backup Strategy — The 3-2-1 Rule
⚠ Warning
Backups connected to the network are not safe from ransomware. Modern ransomware specifically targets backup systems before triggering encryption. At least one copy of your backups must be air-gapped (physically disconnected) or immutable (cloud storage with object lock that prevents deletion or modification for a set period).
Types of DR Testing
Testing your BC/DR plan is not optional — it is the only way to know it actually works:
| Test Type | Description | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Tabletop Exercise | Team walks through a scenario verbally — no systems involved | Quarterly |
| Walkthrough Test | Review procedures step by step with documentation | Bi-annually |
| Simulation | Partial restoration in a test environment | Annually |
| Full Failover Test | Actually fail over to DR environment and restore production | Annually (high cost, high confidence) |
✓ Key Point
Always test your backups — not just create them. A backup you have never restored is a backup you cannot guarantee works. Schedule regular restore tests for critical systems. Many organisations discover their backup tapes are blank or their restore procedure is 3 years out of date only when they desperately need it.
If everything went down tomorrow, how fast could you recover?
A backup you’ve never restored is a hope, not a plan. Mobile Techs IT Service builds recovery you can rely on for Gold Coast businesses — 3-2-1 backup with ransomware-proof offsite copies, regular tested restores, realistic RTO/RPO targets, and a documented disaster recovery plan your team can actually follow. Home users welcome too — on-site or remote, anywhere in Australia.
Get a disaster recovery plan → or call 1300 644 588
