Presidents, CEOs, owners, and other executives know they want a plan of what to do in a disaster situation. There are two important periods that executives need to dictate.

The faster you want to recover, and the more current you need your data to be, the more you will invest in your plan.

First, how soon after the disaster do you need to be up and running determines your RTO: Recovery Time Objective. You may have different times for different services. As an example, if your business depends upon the Internet or email, you’ll want those services running again immediately. You may decide that you can wait 24 hours before regaining your ability to process payroll.

Second, how much data can you afford to lose in the event of a disaster? RPO stands for Recovery Point Objective. Do you need your data to be restored to the information you had backed up the night before? Or an hour before? Your RPO period may be very short for important data that, once lost, is gone forever and cannot be regenerated.

It is your responsibility to direct IT as they prepare for your desired RTO and RPO. Have them show you the price for two options. That way, you can protect yourself appropriately depending on the actual risks you face. Avoid over-insuring or under-insuring your business continuity.