Often the terms Disaster Recovery Planning and Business Continuity Planning are used interchangeably. However, they are quite different and you need both to ensure your business can survive a disaster.

Why it Matters
When disaster strikes, whether it’s an earthquake, cyber-attack, power outage, or even a prolonged staff absence, your ability to keep operating can determine whether your organisation survives the disruption. In New Zealand, the Christchurch earthquakes were a sharp reminder that resilience is not optional. Schools, businesses, and government agencies all learned that without robust plans, essential services can fail quickly.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) sets out how your organisation will continue to operate during and after a disruption. It looks beyond technology to include staff, resources, communication, and critical business processes.

For a small business or school, a BCP might be just a couple of pages covering:

• A list of potential risks or threats (e.g. natural disasters, power outages, cyber incidents).

• Key tasks required to keep the organisation running.

• Up-to-date staff contact information.

• Data backup locations and recovery processes.

For larger organisations a BCP can extend to dozens of pages and involve multiple teams. The scale is different, but the principle is the same: plan ahead so disruption doesn’t become disaster.

👉 For EdTech providers, this means ensuring platforms remain accessible to students and staff, safeguarding stored data, and maintaining trust even when disaster strikes.

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is a key component of your BCP. It focuses specifically on the technology and infrastructure that keep your organisation running.

Key factors include:

• Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. (e.g., can you afford to lose 24 hours of school data? Or only 1 hour?)

• Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The maximum time systems can be offline before serious impact occurs. (e.g., can schools function without your platform for an hour? A day?)

Your backup systems and cloud services must align with these objectives,ie you need to do the above and this will determine the technology solution you provide. Like use, most EdTech providers will use cloud-based infrastructure for resilience, but this still requires tested recovery processes, for example: I had once a fibre cable cut which took out services for 7 days!

🛑Tip: Don’t just document your plan, test it. Run scenarios (e.g., ransomware attack, data centre outage) to ensure your recovery objectives are realistic. This can be desk top scenarios, its actually a fun thing to do with your team.

Links

• Shut Happens (Resilient Organisations): A hands-on guide laid out in a clear what/how/why structure for small businesses.

• https://www.resorgs.org.nz/publications/guide-shut-happens-a-resilience-guide-for-small-business/

  
  

• Business.govt.nz – Continuity & Contingency Planning: A user-friendly, step-by-step toolkit to help Kiwi businesses build their BCP.
  

• https://www.business.govt.nz/risks-and-operations/planning-for-the-unexpected-bcp/continuity-and-contingency-planning

• Auckland Emergency Management Guide: Offers a structured 12-step plan and template for building your BCP from scratch.
  aucklandemergencymanagement.govt.nz

Final Thought

A robust Business Continuity Plan isn’t about predicting disasters, it’s about preparing for them. For EdTech providers, this preparation ensures schools and learners can rely on your services even during unexpected disruptions, while keeping you aligned with ST4S requirements for continuity and resilience.