DRaaS Planner RPO/RTO Worksheet Guide
DRaaS Planner is a structured, actionable framework designed to help your organization prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptions like cyberattacks, hardware failures, or natural disasters.
DRaaS Planner RPO/RTO Worksheet provides a centralized space to document recovery objectives. It outlines recovery procedures, define communication plans, and helps quantify the cost of downtime.
DRaaS Planner RPO/RTO Worksheet Guide
Defining clear Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) targets is the first critical step in any successful Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy.
These metrics determine the technology required and, consequently, the cost of the DR solution.
| Metric | Definition | Critical Question |
| RPO (Recovery Point Objective) | The maximum acceptable amount of data loss, measured in time. | “How much data (measured in time) can we afford to lose? (e.g., 1 hour, 1 day, 1 minute)”. |
| RTO (Recovery Time Objective) | The maximum acceptable duration of downtime following a disaster before business operations must resume. | “How quickly must this system be back online and functioning? (e.g., 2 hours, 12 hours, 48 hours)”. |
Application Criticality and Recovery Requirement Worksheet
Use the table below to evaluate your core applications. Each application should have its own row to define its recovery needs and associated cost implications.
| Application Name | Business Owner | Criticality Tier (1-4) | Target RPO (Time) | Target RTO (Time) | Technical Solution Implied | Estimated Cost Multiplier (Low/Medium/High) | Notes |
| Tier 1: Mission Critical (e.g., Core DB, e-Commerce) | Finance/Sales | 1 – Immediate | 0-1 Hour | 0-4 Hours | Continuous Replication (Active/Active or Active/Passive) | High | |
| Tier 2: Business Essential (e.g., ERP, CRM) | Operations | 2 – Rapid | 4-12 Hours | 4-8 Hours | Near-real time Replication (Periodic Snapshots) | Medium | |
| Tier 3: Important (e.g., Email, File Share) | All Departments | 3 – Standard | 12-24 Hours | 8-24 Hours | Daily/Bi-Daily Backup & Cloud Recovery | Low | |
| Tier 4: Non-Essential (e.g., Development/Test) | IT/DevOps | 4 – Deferred | >24 Hours | >48 Hours | Weekly Backup & Manual Rebuild | Very Low | |
| Example Row 1 | Business Unit | x Tier | x Hours | x Hours | |||
| Example Row 2 | Business Unit | x Tier | x Hours | x Hours |
The Technology Alignment Checklist
Once your RPO/RTO targets are set, align them with the appropriate DRaaS technology. Remember: tighter RPO/RTO targets increase the complexity and cost of the solution.
Achieving RPO Targets (Data Loss Tolerance)
| Target RPO Range | Required Technology / Method | Cost Impact |
| Seconds to Minutes | Synchronous/Asynchronous Replication, Continuous Data Protection (CDP). | Requires dedicated high-speed links and specialized storage (High). |
| 1 Hour to 4 Hours | Frequent Snapshots (every 15-60 min) or Database Transaction Log Shipping. | Requires robust network bandwidth and automated orchestration (Medium). |
| 4 Hours to 24 Hours | Standard Backup/Replication Policy (hourly/daily). | Standard DRaaS cost (Low). |
Achieving RTO Targets (Downtime Tolerance)
| Target RTO Range | Required Infrastructure Model | Recovery Effort |
| Minutes to 1 Hour | Hot Standby (Pilot Light / Active-Passive Cluster). DR site is running and synchronized. | Automated failover, immediate network switch. (Highest Complexity). |
| 2 Hours to 8 Hours | Warm Standby. Compute is available, but data and applications need to be mounted/booted. | Requires dedicated DRaaS orchestration platform (Velo DRaaS). (Medium Complexity). |
| 8 Hours + | Cold Recovery. Data is restored from storage, and compute resources are provisioned on demand. | Manual recovery steps, higher chance of configuration errors. (Lowest Complexity). |
Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Summary
Use this section to justify the RPO/RTO targets by quantifying the cost of downtime.
| Area | High-Level Impact | Estimated Cost of 1 Hour of Downtime |
| Revenue Loss | Lost sales, inability to process transactions, cancelled subscriptions. | RM xx,000.00 |
| Operational Loss | Loss of productivity (staff idle time), increased manual workload post-recovery. | RM xx,000.00 |
| Reputation & Compliance | Potential regulatory fines, breach of SLA contracts, public loss of trust. | Hard to quantify, can mention maximum fine exposure. |
| Total Estimated Downtime Cost (per hour) | RM xxx,xxx.00 |
If the hourly cost of downtime exceeds the monthly cost of achieving the desired RPO/RTO target, the DRaaS investment is justified.
Review and Update
RTOs and RPOs are not static and should be regularly reviewed and tested to ensure they align with evolving business requirements. You may reach out to us to help you align technical capabilities with your specific business needs.
