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Do Your Backups Actually Meet Your RPOs?

January 29, 2026
David Matt, CISSP, CEH

Do Your Backups Actually Meet Your RPOs?

Do your backups match your expectations?

A Business impact analysis (BIA) identifies critical business functions and the impact of a disruption on operations. The BIA defines:

  • Data loss tolerance (aka recovery point objectives or RPO)
  • Recovery speed (aka Recovery Time Objectives or RTO)
  • Maximum allowable/tolerable downtime (MAD/MTD)

These variables are used to set recovery priorities based on operational, financial, and reputational impact.

If you’ve done the work to define recovery point objectives, have you also made sure that your system and data backups actually match your BIA objectives? For example, if a server has an RPO of eight hours, but it’s only backed up every twenty-four hours, data loss will likely be the result when recovering.

When reviewing and updating the BIA, include an assessment of system and data backup schedules to confirm they align with the RPOs. You may discover systems needing more frequent backups or BIA requirements that are impractical, requiring either revised expectations or additional mitigation strategies.