Disaster Recovery Journal Fall 2025

By CARLO KELEJIAN Imagine a tech company with a perfect IT recovery plan where servers can be restored in minutes. However, when the office building becomes inaccessible due to flooding, the company has no plans for an event that impacts the facility. As a result, cus tomers can’t reach support teams, and the company suffers repu tational and financial damage, not because of IT, but because of operational failure. 8 Common Business Continuity Planning Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) B usiness continuity (BC) planning is no longer optional. In a world where cyberattacks, nat ural disasters, supply chain disruptions, and even social media crises can cripple an orga nization in minutes, having a solid continuity plan is essential for survival. Many organizations fall into the same traps when developing their plans, leaving critical gaps that only surface when a real incident occurs. The good news is these mistakes are preventable. By understanding the most common pitfalls and learning how to avoid them, you can build a program that not only looks good on paper but also works when it matters most. Here are eight of the most common mistakes in business con tinuity planning and what you can do to avoid them. Mistake 1: Treating Business Continuity as an IT-Only Function One of the biggest misconceptions is that business continu ity is the same as IT disaster recovery. While technology plays an important role, business continuity is about much more than servers and systems. It’s about keeping the entire organization running. Why this is a problem: n A plan focused only on IT ignores critical areas such as customer service, finance, operations, and human resources. n Non-technical disruptions, such as loss of key staff, transportation issues, or supply chain failures often cause as much, if not more, disruption than IT outages. Example:

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