The primary objective of a business continuity plan or disaster recovery plan is to ensure that your business is prepared for extended service disruptions caused by factors beyond your control, such as natural disasters or man-made events. The aim is to restore services to the fullest extent possible within the shortest timeframe. It is expected that all of your company's locations will implement preventive measures whenever feasible to minimize operational disruptions and to facilitate a speedy recovery in the event of an incident.

While this process can be challenging for larger businesses, the difficulties are amplified for smaller organizations that often have limited staff and resources. Small business disaster recovery planning can be particularly daunting when considering the factors of time, money, and resources involved.

According to Deni O'Connor, principal analyst at Storage Strategies NOW, in the report "Data Protection and Recovery in the Small and Midsized Business," there are approximately 5.75 million small and midsized businesses (SMBs) in the United States alone, each facing their unique set of challenges and requirements to ensure the viability of their companies. SMBs consistently struggle to protect the increasing volumes of information, and the multitude of options available for data protection and disaster recovery can be overwhelming to navigate.

To simplify the process of disaster recovery planning for SMBs, we have compiled our top five resources on business continuity planning. This includes a free, downloadable business continuity plan template to help you get started. Take advantage of our collection of resources tailored specifically to small business disaster recovery planning.