What is Disaster Recovery Planning

Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) is the documented process establishing how critical business functions resume after a disruptive event — including vendor service outages, data breaches, or natural disasters. For third-party risk management, DRP validates that vendors can maintain service continuity and protect your data during incidents through tested recovery procedures, defined RTOs/RPOs, and alternate processing capabilities.

Key takeaways:

• DRP requirements appear in SOC 2 Type II (CC9.1), ISO 27001 (A.17), and GDPR Article 32
• Vendor DRP assessment requires verified testing documentation, not just policy statements
• Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) must align with your business requirements
• Annual testing validation and change management procedures indicate DRP maturity

Third-party service disruptions cost enterprises an average of $1.2 million per incident according to Ponemon Institute's 2023 study. Your vendors' disaster recovery capabilities directly impact your operational resilience — when their systems fail, your business operations suffer the consequences.

DRP evaluation extends beyond checking boxes on questionnaires. Effective third-party risk management demands evidence of tested recovery procedures, documented communication protocols, and measurable recovery objectives that align with your business continuity requirements. Regulators increasingly scrutinize vendor DRP capabilities, particularly for critical service providers handling sensitive data or supporting regulated activities.

This glossary entry examines disaster recovery planning through the lens of vendor risk assessment, regulatory compliance mapping, and practical evaluation criteria that separate performative documentation from operational readiness.

Core Components of Vendor Disaster Recovery Planning

Disaster recovery planning encompasses three fundamental elements that compliance teams must verify during vendor assessments:

1. Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Documentation Vendors must demonstrate they've identified critical processes, dependencies, and recovery priorities. Request their BIA methodology, criticality classifications, and maximum tolerable downtime calculations. Red flag: generic templates without vendor-specific operational details.

2. Recovery Strategies and Procedures Documented procedures should specify:

• Primary and alternate processing locations
• Data backup frequencies and retention periods
• Manual workaround procedures for system unavailability
• Communication escalation matrices with defined contacts

3. Testing and Maintenance Protocols Annual testing remains the industry baseline, though critical vendors should demonstrate semi-annual or quarterly exercises. Request testing reports including:

• Test scenarios executed
• Success/failure metrics
• Identified gaps and remediation timelines
• Post-test improvement implementations

Regulatory Requirements and Framework Mapping

SOC 2 Type II Requirements

Trust Services Criteria CC9.1 mandates that service organizations implement and test disaster recovery procedures. Auditors specifically examine:

• Documented recovery procedures
• Testing evidence within the audit period
• Management's response to test failures
• Change management for DRP updates

ISO 27001:2022 Alignment

Annex A control 17.1 requires:

• Business continuity procedures integrated with risk management
• Regular testing and updating
• Defined roles and responsibilities
• Performance metrics for recovery objectives

Control 17.2 specifically addresses ICT redundancies — verify vendor infrastructure includes:

• Redundant data centers or cloud availability zones
• Network path diversity
• Power and cooling redundancy
• Automated failover capabilities

GDPR Article 32 Considerations

The "ability to restore availability and access to personal data in a timely manner" creates explicit DRP obligations for data processors. Document:

• Data backup encryption methods
• Geographic backup locations (data residency compliance)
• Restoration testing specifically for personal data categories
• Incident notification procedures meeting 72-hour requirements

Sector-Specific Requirements

Financial Services (FFIEC/OCC): Appendix J requires documented recovery strategies for critical vendors with:

• Recovery time objectives ≤ 4 hours for Tier 1 systems
• Geographically dispersed backup facilities (>50 miles separation)
• Annual regulatory reporting of test results

Healthcare (HIPAA): § 164.308(a)(7) contingency planning includes:

• Data backup plans
• Disaster recovery procedures
• Emergency mode operations
• Testing and revision procedures
• Applications and data criticality analysis

Practical Vendor Assessment Methodology

Initial Due Diligence Questions

1. "Provide your most recent DRP test report including failure scenarios"
2. "What are your published RTO/RPO commitments for our service tier?"
3. "Describe a real incident where you activated disaster recovery procedures"
4. "How do you validate backup integrity between tests?"
5. "What third-party dependencies exist in your recovery procedures?"

Evidence Collection Requirements

Refuse to accept policy documents alone. Demand:

• Dated test reports with measurable results
• Recovery runbooks with step-by-step procedures
• Communication templates and contact lists
• Third-party attestations (SOC 2, ISO 27001 certificates)
• Incident post-mortems demonstrating DRP activation

Risk Scoring Considerations

Risk Factor	High Risk Indicators	Acceptable Evidence
Test Frequency	Annual or less	Quarterly for critical vendors
RTO Achievement	Consistently missed	90%+ success rate
Documentation	Generic templates	Vendor-specific procedures
Geographic Diversity	Single location	Multi-region capabilities
Dependencies	Undocumented	Mapped with alternatives

Common Vendor DRP Deficiencies

1. Paper-Only Plans Many vendors maintain comprehensive documentation never tested under realistic conditions. Warning signs include:

• Test reports lacking quantitative metrics
• Tabletop exercises without technical validation
• Plans referencing outdated systems or personnel

2. Misaligned Recovery Objectives Vendor RTO/RPO commitments often misalign with customer requirements. A 24-hour RTO means nothing if your business requires 4-hour recovery. Document explicit recovery requirements in contracts, not just SLAs.

3. Incomplete Scope Vendors frequently limit DRP scope to production systems, excluding:

• Development/testing environments
• Historical audit data
• Integration endpoints
• Supporting infrastructure (DNS, authentication)

4. Third-Party Dependencies Cloud concentration risk emerges when vendors rely on single IaaS providers without multi-cloud capabilities. Map the full dependency chain including:

• Cloud service providers
• Telecommunications carriers
• Colocation facilities
• Managed service providers

Industry-Specific Considerations

SaaS Providers: Focus on multi-tenancy implications. How does recovery prioritization work across customers? What happens if multiple customers invoke simultaneous recovery needs?

Manufacturing/OT Vendors: Verify cyber-physical recovery procedures. Can manual operations continue during system recovery? How do safety systems maintain functionality?

Professional Services: Examine data portability and client deliverable protection. Can work products be reconstructed from backups? How quickly can client-facing systems resume?

Continuous Monitoring Requirements

Annual assessments provide insufficient assurance. Implement:

• Quarterly DRP update confirmations
• Real-time monitoring of vendor infrastructure status pages
• Automated alerts for vendor-reported incidents
• Regular recovery time validation through synthetic transactions

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should vendors test their disaster recovery plans?

Critical vendors supporting regulated activities should test quarterly, with annual testing as the absolute minimum. Request evidence of both full-scale failover tests and component-level recovery validation.

What's the difference between RTO and RPO in vendor assessments?

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) measures maximum acceptable downtime before service restoration. Recovery Point Objective (RPO) defines maximum acceptable data loss measured in time. A 4-hour RTO with 1-hour RPO means service resumes within 4 hours with no more than 1 hour of data loss.

Can we rely on SOC 2 reports for DRP validation?

SOC 2 Type II reports provide valuable testing evidence but shouldn't be your only source. Review the testing procedures in Section IV and any deviations noted. Supplement with vendor-specific recovery documentation and your own technical due diligence.

Should cloud-native vendors maintain different DRP standards?

Cloud-native vendors should demonstrate multi-region deployment capabilities, automated infrastructure provisioning, and immutable infrastructure patterns. Traditional backup/restore approaches may be replaced by continuous replication and instant failover capabilities.

How do we evaluate DRP for vendors who won't share detailed procedures?

Request redacted versions focusing on capabilities rather than specifics. Alternatively, accept executive attestations covering: test frequency, recovery objectives achieved, geographic diversity, and third-party dependencies. Include right-to-audit clauses for critical vendors.

What contractual terms should address disaster recovery?

Include specific RTO/RPO commitments, testing frequency requirements, notification timelines for DRP changes, and remedies for failure to meet recovery objectives. Avoid generic "best efforts" language.

How do we handle vendors with inadequate disaster recovery capabilities?

Document the risk in your vendor risk register with compensating controls: increased monitoring, alternate vendors on standby, internal workaround procedures, or enhanced cyber insurance coverage specific to vendor failures.