Definition
Designing business continuity solutions involves creating plans and implementing strategies to ensure an organization can maintain essential functions during and after a disruptive event. This process typically includes risk assessment, identifying critical business processes, and developing recovery procedures. It matters because it safeguards operations, protects assets, and minimizes financial losses when unexpected incidents occur. For instance, a retail company might design a plan to shift online sales to a backup data center if their primary physical store is inaccessible due to a natural disaster. This differs from disaster recovery, which focuses solely on restoring IT systems, whereas business continuity encompasses the entire organization's operations. This concept is frequently assessed in cybersecurity certifications like CompTIA Security+ and IT governance certifications like CISSP.