Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning Training Course

Course overview

Disruption has stopped behaving like an exception. A flood in one region, a ransomware incident in a shared system, a single supplier going quiet, a data center losing power: any of these can halt operations that customers, regulators, and staff depend on. The organizations that come through with their reputation intact are rarely the lucky ones. They are the ones that decided in advance which activities matter most, how long those activities can be down, and what it takes to bring them back.

This course, held at EuroQuest International Training, treats business continuity planning and disaster recovery as one discipline. Participants work through business impact analysis, recovery time and recovery point objectives, IT and cyber resilience, crisis communication, and the governance that keeps a plan current. The course draws on recognized frameworks such as ISO 22301 and ISO 27031 as subject matter; it is educational and does not certify an organization against any standard.

Why continuity planning protects more than operations

When a critical service stops, the visible cost is lost production, but the lasting damage is often to trust. Contracts increasingly require evidence of a tested continuity plan, insurers ask about recovery capability, and customers move to competitors who stayed available. A continuity program gives leadership a defensible answer to a simple question that arrives at the worst moment: what do we do now, and who decides? That answer, prepared calmly in advance, is what separates a managed incident from a public failure.

What you will be able to do afterwards

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Run a business impact analysis to quantify recovery needs.
• Assess threats across natural, technical, and human causes.
• Align a continuity program with ISO 22301 and ISO 27031.
• Design recovery strategies for people, premises, and IT systems.
• Restore systems and data following a cyber incident.
• Lead crisis communication and decision-making under pressure.
• Evaluate supplier and third-party continuity risk.
• Sequence tabletop and full-scale continuity exercises.
• Incorporate ESG and sustainability into recovery choices.
• Benchmark continuity programs against global best practices.

Course outline

Unit 1: Introduction to business continuity and disaster recovery

• Continuity, disaster recovery, and crisis management.
• The continuity lifecycle from analysis to maintenance.
• MTPD, RTO, RPO, and minimum business continuity objective.
• Where continuity responsibility sits in an organization.

Unit 2: Risk identification and business impact analysis (BIA)

• Identifying natural, technical, and human threats.
• Mapping critical activities and their dependencies.
• Quantifying impact over time to set recovery priorities.
• Translating BIA findings into recovery objectives.

Unit 3: Continuity frameworks and standards

• The structure and intent of ISO 22301.
• How ISO 27031 addresses ICT readiness for continuity.
• Aligning continuity with existing risk and quality systems.
• Reading standards as guidance without over-engineering.

Unit 4: Disaster recovery planning

• Recovery strategies for people, premises, and processes.
• Alternate site options: hot, warm, and cold arrangements.
• Documenting recovery procedures that others can follow.
• Balancing recovery capability against cost.

Unit 5: IT and cyber resilience

• Backup, replication, and restoration approaches.
• Recovering systems, data, and access after cyber incidents.
• Coordinating IT recovery with incident response.
• Testing that backups actually restore when needed.

Unit 6: Crisis communication and leadership

• Command structure and decision rights during disruption.
• Communicating with staff, customers, and regulators.
• Managing the flow of information as facts change.
• Sustaining leadership presence through a prolonged event.

Unit 7: Governance and compliance in continuity planning

• Roles, ownership, and board-level accountability.
• Regulatory and contractual continuity expectations.
• Documentation and audit trails that stand up to review.
• Keeping plans current as the organization changes.

Unit 8: Supply chain and operational resilience

• Mapping dependencies on suppliers and third parties.
• Concentration risk and single points of failure.
• Continuity clauses and expectations for key vendors.
• Operational resilience as an outcome, not a document.

Unit 9: Testing and exercising continuity plans

• Exercise types: walkthroughs, tabletop, and full-scale.
• Designing scenarios that stress real weaknesses.
• Capturing findings and updating plans afterward.
• Building an exercise schedule that fits the organization.

Unit 10: ESG and sustainability in continuity planning

• Climate-related disruption and continuity planning.
• Social responsibility in staff welfare during events.
• Reporting resilience within ESG disclosures.
• Sustainable recovery choices for premises and operations.

Unit 11: Global best practices in continuity planning

• Common features of well-run continuity programs.
• Learning from documented recovery successes and failures.
• Metrics that show whether resilience is improving.
• Embedding continuity into everyday decisions.

Unit 12: Capstone continuity and recovery project

• Outlining continuity and recovery for an organization.
• Justifying recovery priorities from an impact analysis.
• Presenting the plan and defending its assumptions.
• Setting a maintenance and testing roadmap.

How the course is delivered

The course is delivered through facilitated discussion, worked examples, and documented case studies of real disruptions, with structured feedback on participants' own continuity thinking. It builds planning and leadership judgment and is educational; it does not certify an organization or individual against ISO 22301 or any other standard.

Who should attend

The course suits business continuity and resilience managers, risk and compliance professionals, and IT and operations leaders who own recovery. Those focused on the digital and cyber dimension will find Digital Risk Management and Business Continuity a natural next step.

About EuroQuest International Training

EuroQuest International Training, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Bratislava, delivers professional courses to more than 15,000 participants across over 1,000 titles, in cities including Dubai, London, Barcelona, Istanbul, Vienna, Paris, and Geneva, led by experienced practitioners.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a technical IT background to benefit?

No. The course explains IT and cyber recovery in business terms so that risk, operations, and continuity professionals can plan alongside technical teams without needing to configure systems themselves.

Does the course follow ISO 22301?

It uses ISO 22301 and ISO 27031 as reference frameworks and explains how they structure a continuity program. It is educational and does not certify you or your organization against either standard.

Will I leave with a ready-to-use plan?

You will leave with the structure, priorities, and approach to build one, worked through on a case study, so you can develop a plan tailored to your own organization afterward.

Related courses

• ISO 22301: Business Continuity Management Systems
• Crisis Management and Business Continuity
• Resilience and Recovery Planning for Organizations
• Enterprise Risk Management Strategies

Register for this course

To reserve a place or ask about dates and in-house delivery, contact EuroQuest International Training and our team will help you arrange the details.