Which statement best describes the difference between business continuity planning and disaster recovery?

• A. Maintaining essential operations during disruptions
• B. Restoring IT systems and data after a disruption
• C. Focusing solely on vendor management
• D. Eliminating all disruptions completely

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that business continuity planning aims to keep essential operations running during disruptions, while disaster recovery focuses on restoring IT systems and data after an outage. A business continuity plan takes a broad view of the organization: it covers people, processes, facilities, suppliers, and communications, and it outlines how critical functions will continue or quickly resume when something goes wrong. Disaster recovery, by contrast, is a more IT-specific effort within that broader plan, dealing with getting servers, networks, and data back online after an incident. Since the goal of business continuity is to maintain ongoing operations, the statement describing maintaining essential operations during disruptions best captures the difference. The other options point to IT restoration, vendor management, or eliminating all disruptions, which are narrower or unrealistic in scope.