--- title: "Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery | StartCloud" description: "What business continuity and disaster recovery mean for a business: BCP vs DR, RTO and RPO, and why an untested backup is not a plan." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": [ "LocalBusiness", "ProfessionalService" ], "@id": "https://startcloud.au/#business", "name": "StartCloud", "legalName": "Start Technologies Pty Ltd", "alternateName": "StartCloud Australia", "identifier": { "@type": "PropertyValue", "propertyID": "ABN", "value": "17 676 121 449" }, "slogan": "Go Beyond", "description": "StartCloud is Perth's cybersecurity-first AI MSP: managed IT, Essential Eight security, Microsoft 365 and cloud, networking, and practical AI for Australian businesses with 5 to 50 staff.", "url": "https://startcloud.au", "logo": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "image": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "telephone": "+61862850001", "email": "web@startcloud.com.au", "priceRange": "$$", "currenciesAccepted": "AUD", "paymentAccepted": "Invoice", "foundingDate": "2023", "contactPoint": { "@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+61862850001", "contactType": "customer service", "areaServed": "AU", "availableLanguage": "English" }, "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "Ground Floor West, 6 Gibberd Road", "addressLocality": "Balcatta", "addressRegion": "WA", "postalCode": "6021", "addressCountry": "AU" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": -31.8648813, "longitude": 115.8095638 }, "openingHoursSpecification": [ { "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": [ "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday" ], "opens": "07:00", "closes": "16:30", "description": "General support hours" }, { "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": [ "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday", "Sunday" ], "opens": "00:00", "closes": "23:59", "description": "Security Operations Centre (SOC) with 24/7/365 threat monitoring" } ], "areaServed": [ { "@type": "City", "name": "Perth" }, { "@type": "State", "name": "Western Australia" }, { "@type": "Country", "name": "Australia" } ], "serviceArea": { "@type": "GeoCircle", "geoMidpoint": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": -31.8648813, "longitude": 115.8095638 }, "geoRadius": "50000" }, "knowsAbout": [ "Cybersecurity", "Managed Security Services", "Essential Eight", "Microsoft 365", "Microsoft Azure", "IT Support", "Network Security", "Disaster Recovery", "Compliance Management", "Microsoft Copilot", "AI Readiness", "AI Governance", "AI Agent Development" ], "hasOfferCatalog": { "@type": "OfferCatalog", "name": "IT and Cybersecurity Services", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Cybersecurity Services", "url": "https://startcloud.au/cybersecurity" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Managed IT Services and Support", "url": "https://startcloud.au/technology" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Microsoft 365 and Cloud Solutions", "url": "https://startcloud.au/cloud" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "Managed Networking", "url": "https://startcloud.au/networking" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "@type": "Service", "name": "AI and Automation", "url": "https://startcloud.au/ai" } } ] }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/startcloudau", "https://www.facebook.com/startcloudaus/", "https://www.cloudtango.net/providers/12375/startcloud", "https://clutch.co/profile/startcloud", "https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=17676121449", "https://www.yellowpages.com.au/balcatta-wa/bpp/startcloud-581735301", "https://www.truelocal.com.au/balcatta-wa/tlp/startcloud-581735301", "https://www.google.com/maps/place/StartCloud/@-31.8648767,115.8069889,739m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x2a32a5b5d9e864b5:0x9f02690968f0e50c!8m2!3d-31.8648813!4d115.8095638!16s%2Fg%2F11vzbgtytj" ] }, [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://startcloud.au/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Resources", "item": "https://startcloud.au/resources" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery", "item": "https://startcloud.au/resources/business-continuity-disaster-recovery" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Business continuity (BCP) is the whole plan for keeping the business running through a disruption, including people, processes, and communication. Disaster recovery (DR) is the technology part: getting your systems and data back. DR sits inside BCP." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What are RTO and RPO?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is how quickly a system needs to be back after an incident. Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is how much data you can afford to lose, measured in time, so an RPO of one hour means backups at least hourly. Setting these two numbers drives the whole plan." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Isn't Microsoft 365 already backed up?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Not in the way most people assume. Microsoft keeps your data available and handles their own infrastructure, but under their shared responsibility model, protecting your data from accidental deletion, ransomware, or a compromised account is your responsibility. A dedicated backup covers that gap." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How often should backups be tested?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Regularly, and on a schedule, not just when something breaks. We test client backups so that if a recovery is ever needed, there are no surprises. An untested backup has a habit of failing exactly when you rely on it." } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BlogPosting", "headline": "Business continuity and disaster recovery, explained", "description": "A plain-English guide to BCDR for small and mid-sized businesses: BCP vs DR, RTO and RPO, and how to build a recovery plan that actually works.", "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://startcloud.au/startcloud-logo.png" } }, "datePublished": "2026-07-06", "dateModified": "2026-07-06", "image": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://startcloud.au/resources/business-continuity-disaster-recovery" } } ] ] --- [![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth")](/ "StartCloud | Managed IT Services Perth") - Cybersecurity - AI Solutions - Cloud - Technology - Networking - Explore [Contact Us](/contact "Contact StartCloud, Perth IT Support") Open menu Overview Short Version BCP vs DR What Goes Wrong RTO & RPO Building a Plan Verdict FAQ Related A plain-English deep dive into business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) for small and mid-sized businesses. Explains the difference between BCP and DR, the main causes of downtime (ransomware, hardware failure, human error, and why cloud is not a backup), the two numbers that drive everything (RTO and RPO), and how to build a plan that actually works. Backups are not a plan until they are tested. [Home](/)[Resources](/resources)Business Continuity & DR IT Resilience Guide What it takes to bounce back # Business continuity and disaster recovery, explained Nobody plans for the day the systems go down, until it happens. Here is what business continuity and disaster recovery actually mean, the two numbers that drive the whole thing, and how to build a plan you can rely on. StartCloud 6 July 2026 8 min read The short version ## The short version **Business continuity is the plan for keeping the business running through a disruption. Disaster recovery is the technology part: getting your systems and data back.** Two numbers drive everything: how fast you need systems back (RTO) and how much data you can afford to lose (RPO). Set those, and the rest of the plan follows. And the single most important point: **a backup you have never tested is not a plan.** The businesses that recover well are the ones that practised before they had to. The difference ## Business continuity vs disaster recovery ### Business continuity (BCP) The whole picture of keeping the business operating through a disruption: your people, your processes, how you communicate with clients, and where the team works if the office is unavailable. It answers "how do we keep trading?" ### Disaster recovery (DR) The technology piece that sits inside the continuity plan: restoring your systems, data, and access after something goes wrong. It answers "how do we get the systems back, and how fast?" What goes wrong ## What you are actually protecting against ### Ransomware The most common cause of serious downtime for Australian SMEs. Files are encrypted and held to ransom, and without clean backups you are stuck. ### Hardware failure Drives and servers die, usually without warning and usually at the worst time. Old kit fails more often than people expect. ### Human error Someone deletes the wrong folder or overwrites a file. It is mundane, and it is one of the most frequent reasons data goes missing. ### Cloud is not a backup Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace keep your data available, but they do not protect you from deletion, ransomware, or a compromised account. That is on you. The two numbers ## RTO and RPO, without the jargon These two acronyms sound technical, but they are just business decisions. Get them right and the rest of the plan almost designs itself. ### RTO: how fast back? Recovery Time Objective is how long you can tolerate a system being down before it seriously hurts. For your email that might be an hour. For an archive nobody touches daily, a day or two is fine. Shorter RTOs cost more, so you match effort to what matters. ### RPO: how much data can you lose? Recovery Point Objective is how much data you can afford to lose, measured in time. An RPO of one hour means you back up at least hourly, so the most you ever lose is the last hour of work. Tighter RPOs mean more frequent backups. Building a plan ## Building a plan that actually works - 1 Work out which systems and data the business genuinely cannot run without. - 2 Agree how quickly each needs to come back (RTO) and how much data you can afford to lose (RPO). - 3 Put backups in place that match those targets, on-premises and in the cloud. - 4 Test the recovery, not just the backup. An untested backup is a hope, not a plan. - 5 Document who does what during an incident, so nobody is improvising under pressure. - 6 Review it as the business changes, because last year's plan may not fit this year's systems. Verdict ## The takeaway Business continuity and disaster recovery are not about predicting the future. They are about deciding, in advance and calmly, what you would do when something goes wrong, so that on the day you are following a plan instead of panicking. For most businesses the work is not glamorous: sensible backups, clear recovery targets, and testing that proves it all works. But it is the difference between a bad afternoon and a threat to the business. If you want a hand putting it in place, that is exactly what our [disaster recovery service](/technology/disaster-recovery) is for. [Explore disaster recovery](/technology/disaster-recovery)[Talk to our team](/contact) FAQ ## Common questions ### What is the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery? Business continuity (BCP) is the whole plan for keeping the business running through a disruption, including people, processes, and communication. Disaster recovery (DR) is the technology part: getting your systems and data back. DR sits inside BCP. ### What are RTO and RPO? Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is how quickly a system needs to be back after an incident. Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is how much data you can afford to lose, measured in time, so an RPO of one hour means backups at least hourly. Setting these two numbers drives the whole plan. ### Isn't Microsoft 365 already backed up? Not in the way most people assume. Microsoft keeps your data available and handles their own infrastructure, but under their shared responsibility model, protecting your data from accidental deletion, ransomware, or a compromised account is your responsibility. A dedicated backup covers that gap. ### How often should backups be tested? Regularly, and on a schedule, not just when something breaks. We test client backups so that if a recovery is ever needed, there are no surprises. An untested backup has a habit of failing exactly when you rely on it. Keep reading ## Related pages [ Service ### Disaster Recovery & Backup Business continuity planning, tested backups, and recovery for Perth businesses. Service ](/technology/disaster-recovery)[ Cybersecurity ### Cybersecurity Perth Managed security that helps prevent the incidents you would otherwise recover from. Service ](/cybersecurity-perth)[ Pricing ### IT Support Cost in Perth What managed IT and protection cost, and where backup and recovery fit in. Guide ](/resources/it-support-cost-perth) ![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth") Cybersecurity-led IT for Australian businesses. We manage security, compliance, and modern IT environments, so risk is governed, not guessed. Ground Floor West, 6 Gibberd Road, Balcatta WA 6021 [08 6285 0001](tel:+61862850001 "Call StartCloud on 08 6285 0001") Serving Perth businesses from Balcatta, Western Australia. ![Microsoft Solutions Partner - Modern Work](/assets/microsoft-solutions-partner-DqvNMv91.png "Microsoft Solutions Partner: Modern Work") ### Services - [Cybersecurity](/cybersecurity "Cybersecurity Services Perth | StartCloud") - [AI Solutions](/ai "AI & Automation Services Perth | StartCloud") - [Cloud](/cloud "Cloud Services Perth | StartCloud") - [Technology](/technology "IT Services and Support | StartCloud") - [Networking](/networking "Business Networking Perth | StartCloud") - [Packages](/packages "IT Support Packages Perth | StartCloud") ### Company - [About](/about "About StartCloud, Perth IT Support Team") - [Company Facts](/facts "StartCloud Company Facts | Perth Cybersecurity-First AI MSP") - [Resources](/resources "IT Resources & Guides | StartCloud Perth") - [Service Areas](/it-support-perth "IT Support Perth | StartCloud") - [Contact](/contact "Contact StartCloud, Perth IT Support") ### Locations - [All Service Areas](/locations "Perth IT Support Areas | StartCloud") - [IT Support Perth](/it-support-perth "IT Support Perth | StartCloud") - [Cybersecurity Perth](/cybersecurity-perth "Cybersecurity Perth | StartCloud") - [MSP Perth](/managed-service-provider-perth "Managed Service Provider Perth | StartCloud") - [Industries We Serve](/industries "IT Support by Industry Perth | StartCloud") © 2026 Start Technologies Pty Ltd trading as StartCloud. All rights reserved. ABN 17 676 121 449 [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/startcloudau "StartCloud on LinkedIn")[](https://www.facebook.com/startcloudaus/ "StartCloud on Facebook")[](https://www.google.com/maps/place/StartCloud/@-31.8648767,115.8069889,739m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x2a32a5b5d9e864b5:0x9f02690968f0e50c!8m2!3d-31.8648813!4d115.8095638!16s%2Fg%2F11vzbgtytj "StartCloud on Google") [Terms of Service](/terms-of-service "Terms of Service | StartCloud")| [Privacy Policy](/privacy-policy "Privacy Policy | StartCloud")| [Modern Slavery Policy](/modern-slavery-policy "Modern Slavery Policy | StartCloud")| [Cookie Policy](/cookie-policy "Cookie Policy | StartCloud") StartCloud Assistant Online G'day! 👋 I'm the StartCloud Assistant. How can I help you today? Tell me about your servicesBook a discovery callI need IT support Find Your Solution