Disaster Recovery Journal Spring 2026

Most Businesses Have A DR Function

Our 2026 survey responses show busi nesses recognized the need for a DR strat egy and capabilities, with more than 75% reporting some type of formal DR pro gram and an additional 16% indicating an intention to implement a DR program in the next year. Only about half of respon dents planned for DR at the enterprise level in a centralized program, and 6% of respondents planned for DR in localized silos (see Figure 1). The survey also found 66% of respon dents allocated between 0% and 10% of their total IT budget to DR, with 34% spending more (see Figure 2). When examining related responses across the survey, higher DR spend alone did not align with higher confidence in preparedness. Notably, respondents reporting greater preparedness confidence more frequently cited the use of automa tion, more frequent planning updates, and regular testing, suggesting execution discipline may matter more than budget levels alone. Disaster Recovery Is Largely An I&O Function with Executive Oversight Because DR is highly technical, it remains largely IT led: 47% of respon dents said the head of DR sat in infra structure and operations (I&O) (see Figure 3). Security ownership increased to 21%, signaling growing emphasis on cyber recovery. DR programs also reported higher in the organization, with 59% reporting directly to a functional C‑level executive and another 24% reporting one level below (see Figure 4). Alignment with enterprise risk manage ment (ERM) is strong, with 6% reporting via a dotted line, 15% reporting directly, and 45% working closely with ERM (see Figure 5). Together, executive‑level oversight and ERM alignment indicate DR is increas ingly being treated as a strategic function with greater authority to act.

10 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | SPRING 2026